Third tour title of 2022 for Fritz, wins battle of Americans with Tiafoe in Tokyo

Taylor Fritz won the tournament on Sunday against Frances Tiafoe

Taylor Fritz, Tokyo 2022 | © AI / Reuters / Panoramic

October 9, 2022

No 3 seed Taylor Fritz defeated No 4 seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to win the Japan Open tournament at the Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo on Sunday.

It’s now five wins in a row for Fritz against his contemporary.

And he is now the first American to break into the Top 10 since Jack Sock did it in November 2017. He’s expected to be world No 8 when the rankings are confirmed on Monday.

Fritz is the tenth different American to win the title in Tokyo, and the first since Pete Sampras beat Richey Reneberg in 1996.

Fritz: “It’s so crazy”

“[It is] crazy, I don’t even think it’s set in just how fast the last four or five days have been,” said Fritz after the match according to the ATP website. “It’s so crazy, and I couldn’t have written it any better. It’s exactly what I needed for the Race [To Turin], for my ranking, to kind of put me in a good position for the end of the year, so it’s amazing.”

"It just feels good to kind of clutch up and do something big like this." 😊@Taylor_Fritz97, on his harrowing journey from quarantine in Seoul to the title at #RakutenOpen pic.twitter.com/gkVIa0oZUC
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 9, 2022

Fritz, ranked No 11, beat Australian James Duckworth (6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-1), Japanese lucky loser Hiroki Moriya (6-1, 3-6, 6-4), Australian Nick Kyrgios, the No 5 seed (W/O) and Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the No 7 seed (6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds of the Tokyo Open, Tiafoe, ranked No 19, defeated Japanese wildcard Yasutaka Uchiyama (6-3, 6-4), Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles (6-1, 7-6 (7)), Serb Miomir Kecmanovic (6-0, 6-4) and SoonWoo Kwon (6-2, 0-6, 6-4).

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