Taylor Fritz says he ‘doesn’t know what is going on’ with his movement after suffering his earliest exit from the French Open since 2018.
The world No.4 dropped 12 out of the last 16 games played during his 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, loss to German world number 47 Daniel Altmaier. Fritz committed 41 unforced errors and won only 25 out of 52 points behind his second serve. It is the first time he has lost his opening match at a Grand Slam event since the 2022 US Open when he was stunned by Brandon Holt.
Fritz has endured a lacklustre clay swing heading into Paris this year. After reaching the quarter-finals in Madrid, he lost his opening match in Rome to Marcos Giron and then his second in Geneva to Hubert Hurkacz. The setback comes during what has been a frustrating season for the American who was also troubled by an abdominal injury earlier this year.
“It’s really strange. I feel like since between Rome, Geneva and here (Paris), my movement on court is really bad,” Fritz said on Monday.
“I don’t know what’s going on. A lot of times when I’m sliding, I’m off balance, I’m not timing it correctly. I’m getting wrong-footed a lot, and slipping a lot.
“Madrid feels like the only time this whole clay court season when I felt I was moving well on clay.
“Physically, I don’t feel that bad. I misjudged earlier in the week the level my ankle was at. Rolled it in Geneva but it’s definitely not the reason why I lost.”
As a result of his defeat, Fritz has already dropped one place in the live rankings to fifth after Jack Draper, who will play his first match tomorrow. It is possible he could fall further down the rankings depending on how his rivals perform over the next two weeks.
As to where he goes now, Fritz hopes the changes to surfaces from clay to grass will help him get back on track. He will have a fair chunk of points to defend during the grass swing. Last year he reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s, won Eastbourne and then made it through to the last eight at Wimbledon.
“The fact that the last three weeks I felt really awkward moving on the clay, which normally I don’t. I don’t feel very uncomfortable or clay normally. Hopefully, that will go away with the surface,” he said.
“I’m not converting big points, not playing big points well, the only way to get rid of that is to have a match or a couple of matches where that just doesn’t happen and I perform well on some of those points.”
“Overall I don’t think I’m playing bad 90% of the match by any means. I think for 90% of the match I’m playing normally. It’s the 10% which ultimately decides the tennis match, the really big points where it matters.” He added.
Fritz is the first top-four seed to lose their opening match at the French Open since Daniil Medvedev in 2023.
