Taylor Fritz has been a symbol of consistency this calendar year, but as he said ahead of his big fourth-round showdown against Casper Ruud, he’ll need to “raise the bar a lot” to get past the world No.8.
He certainly could have done that with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Norwegian in a match that was defined as much by serving prowess as by difficulty.
Although Ruud committed some ill-timed double faults, including one that gave Fritz the second set, Fritz fired 24 aces, including the match-winner, and was able to overcome an unforced error-plagued start and distance himself from his opponent.
The world No. 12 is the first American to reach the fourth round of all four Slams in a calendar year since Andre Agassi in 2003, and he will certainly take confidence from how he battled with Ruud as he looks to advance to his first Slam semi-final.
“I think as you get better, your expectations go up,” said Fritz, who is 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. “What makes you satisfied, what makes you happy in terms of ranking and results, that goes up as well.
Taylor Fritz bounced back from a first-set loss to comfortably beat Casper Ruud on Sunday
Ruud started strong but faded and double-faulted at some crucial moments.
“I think in the past I’ve been very, very excited and happy to reach the quarter-finals at Grand Slams. I think I’m at a point now where I’m still happy to reach the quarter-finals, but I wouldn’t want it to end here.”
There were certainly moments on Sunday when Fritz’s self-confidence was put to the test. Before reaching a second (and successful) set point to tie the match, and with Louis Armstrong Stadium in full roar, he fired into the net after a long rally and dropped his racket in frustration (he explained afterwards that he was unhappy with the ball bouncing badly on the line).
But rather than let the opportunity pass him by, Fritz dusted himself off to grab his first break of the afternoon shortly after and would ultimately wrap up the match in commanding fashion.
Despite Ruud’s shaky serves in the closing stages of the match, he looked imperious at first and held firm with his baseline play. And it was he, not Fritz, who struck the first blow of the afternoon.
The first split between players of equal distance in the rankings came with Ruud leading 4-3 as he earned the first break with a deep return that forced Fritz to hit the net, setting up to subsequently serve out the set.
It had been a fairly close half hour of tennis, but it was certainly not Fritz’s best performance as he committed 15 unforced errors to just seven from Ruud.
She improved her game going forward, but her final breakthrough in the second set still wasn’t easy as her serve ebbed and flowed at times.
The inconsistency (and importance) of Fritz’s serve in this match was made abundantly clear at 2-2 in the second set, when he double-faulted to allow Ruud to make it 30-30, ace his next point, then miss his first serve on the next point before firing long and getting to deuce (which he won with the help of another ace).
The next two games followed a similar serve-centric theme, as Ruud had to survive a break point after two consecutive double faults, while Fritz then escaped a double break point with aces at 40-40 and in deuce to regain the lead in the set.
It looked like Fritz might finally make his breakthrough with Ruud serving down 3-4 as the pair battled for four deuces and Fritz had another break point.
But he couldn’t get past his tenacious opponent and at one point saw a miraculous save on a dunk at the net only prolong another Norwegian possession. At least briefly, it looked like it might be “one of those days” for Fritz.
But the dam would finally break for Fritz with Ruud serving at 4-5 as a packed crowd cheered on the American number one with chants of “go Taylor.”
Once again, serve proved crucial as Ruud double-faulted to hand the second set to Fritz, and from there the American took control of the match.
Fritz played much cleaner tennis as the match progressed and now finds himself in the last eight.
In both the third and fourth sets, Fritz broke his opponent’s serve at the first opportunity and, after some early errors from the American, it was now Ruud who was showing nerves as he double-faulted in the final set to give his opponent a comfortable 3-0 lead.
Fritz needed no further wild cards to close the door on the match and did well to harness his hitting power as the match progressed, hitting 18 winners and committing just one unforced error in the fourth and final set.
He will face either Alexander Zverev or Brandon Nakashima in the next round, but he has reason to feel good after his convincing victory over Ruud.
Whoever his next opponent is, he won’t want to leave New York anytime soon.
“Success at the Grand Slams has been good,” he said. “But I’m a bit fed up with only reaching the quarter-finals and I definitely want to go further.”