By Richard Pagliaro| @Tennis_Now | Friday, October 11, 2024
Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport
Tennis is all about timing.
Facing Novak Djokovic isn’t a good time for Taylor Fritz.
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US Open finalist Fritz carries an ignominious 0-9 lifetime record vs. Grand Slam king Djokovic into their Rolex Shanghai Masters semifinal on Saturday.
In some of those nine meetings, Djokovic has smoked Fritz so thoroughly—including a 6-0, 6-4 sweep in the 2023 Cincinnati quarterfinals—it’s a wonder the scalding didn’t leave burn marks.
Consider the fact Djokovic plays some of his best tennis in Asia and will be supremely motivated standing just two match wins from a milestone 100th career championship.
So why is Fritz optimistic about Saturday’s shot at four-time Shanghai champion Djokovic?
Contesting his fifth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal, Fritz has reason to believe in his form and his shot.
The seventh-seeded Fritz has not surrendered a set in four tournament wins, is serving sharply and empowered by the confidence that comes from his run to his maiden major final in Flushing Meadows.
While he wasn’t channeling Vitas Gerulatis’ famed “no one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row” battle cry, Fritz feels he’s due for the breakthrough.
“We played a lot of times, and I’ve never gotten him, so I’m really, really just waiting for that, you know, excited for the chance, and waiting for that time when, you know, maybe I can get a first win on him,” Fritz said of facing Djokovic. “So, that is something I, you know, I would be really excited about.
“Obviously, incredibly tough. I think, it could be 0-10, but I think it’s 0-9 (smiling), but, you know, hopefully one of these times I’m due, because I’m only getting better and better and, yeah, I’m excited at the opportunity to play him.”
The serve will be crucial for Fritz, a pure ball-striker, who has been burned in running rallies by the 37-year-old Serbian superstar in the past.
In Djokovic’s three-set quarterfinal win over 19-year-old powerhouse baseliner Jakub Mensik today, the former world No. 1 won a majority of the longer rallies though he did tug at his left leg late in the third set.
“I mean, it’s a strange feeling, to be honest, those couple of points in that game, but after that it was fine,” Djokovic told the media in Shanghai. “So, hopefully when it cools down I’m not going to have any troubles with it, because I already have troubles with the right knee, so it wouldn’t be great. Yeah, let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Assuming Djokovic’s legs are fine, Fritz will need serve with command and play some periods of first-strike tennis as Djokovic is the superior all-court player who’s more dangerous from more areas of the court. Fritz has fended off nine of 12 break points in his four Shanghai wins.
Fritz is fourth on the ATP Tour in service games held this season (88 percent) trailing only world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Hubert Hurkacz in that vital category.
“I think my serve’s always been a huge part of my game. It’s always been, you know, one of the best, if not the best part of my game,” Fritz told the media in Shanghai. “But I think in general this year, this whole year, I have felt like I’ve been in a better rhythm with my serve.
“There’s been times where it hasn’t felt maybe as good as I would like it to, but yeah, especially in the last match and then this match, even more so in the second set of this match, yeah, I feel like I’m serving a good percentage and hitting spots very well.”
