Eastbourne: Defending champion and No 1 seed Taylor Fritz knocked out by compatriot McDonald

Fritz loses in the first round of Eastbourne in what will be viewed as a big blow to his Wimbledon preparations

Taylor Fritz loses to Mannarino at Queen’s 2023 Action Plus / Panoramic

June 28, 2023

American No. 1 Taylor Fritz suffered a substantial setback to his Wimbledon preparations by losing to his US Davis Cup team-mate Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) at the Eastbourne International.

In an all-American encounter, a match heavily dominated by the serve required consecutive tiebreaks to separate the two players.

The first was won comfortably by the unseeded McDonald. But the second went right down to the wire, as Fritz put up a firm resistance to the end of his title defence, before eventually succumbing to his compatriot 10-8 in the second set breaker.

While the nature of this result on its own is nothing catastrophic, it will cause some concern within the Fritz camp and will send ripples of interest around the rest of the field at Eastbourne.

Fritz was the defending champion and the top seed on the south coast. But – more importantly – he was hoping to use this last tournament before Wimbledon as a springboard for momentum going into next week’s Championships, at which the American has been touted as a potential outsider for the title.

The American No. 1 is very comfortable on grass, and his title win at this tournament last year, coupled with a run to the last eight at Wimbledon provided sound evidence that Fritz is a potential candidate for the trophy this year.

However, the early relinquishing of his crown at Eastbourne, on top of a disappointing second round loss to Mannarino at Queen’s last week, will leave Fritz and his team feeling relatively uncertain of what the next fortnight has in store.