American tennis legend Andy Roddick says Taylor Fritz definitely made notable progress in 2022 and added the next step for the 25-year-old will be to start winning more consistently the matches that he is supposed to win.
Fritz, ranked at No 9 in the world, enjoyed a career-best season in 2022. In March, Fritz captured his first Masters title in Indian Wells. At Wimbledon, Fritz reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. After winning Tokyo in early October, Fritz broke into the top-10 for the first time in his career as he achieved a career-high ranking of No 8 in the world.
The cherry on top for Fritz was making his debut at the ATP Finals – where he made the semifinal before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
Andy Roddick on Taylor Fritz’s progress
“The next step is going to be consistently winning those matches that he’s supposed to win, right? He has proven that he can play well when the level is up here.
But can he get past Gilles Simon in the second round of Bercy or Brandon Holt first round of the US Open, that’s gonna take him from you know, 7-8 in the world to 3-4 in the world. I think Taylor made as much progress this year as anyone could possibly expect.
Breaking serve at a 25% clip, I think Jim (Courier) sent a stat the other day, that’s 6% higher than it was two years ago. So, the progress is obvious,” Roddick explained on Tennis Channel. On Saturday, Fritz fell short to Djokovic in a tight two-set battle as the Serb edged out the American 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6).
After concluding his ATP Finals debut, Fritz said he felt he deserved to finish the season ranked inside the top-10. “I absolutely feel like I belong. think that I’ve proved that I belong in the Top 10 and I belong here. I just need to keep working hard,” Fritz said.