Taylor Fritz admits he would have been tempted to skip last week’s Citi Open in Washington but felt unable to do so due to a change in the rulebook.
Fritz was the top seed in Washington but lost in the quarter-finals to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. That was the fifth tournament he had played since the start of June across three different countries. During this period, he played 18 matches on two separate surfaces and won 15 of those.
The world No.4 had to play in Washington to meet the criteria regarding the number of ATP 500 events a player has to play in each year. He has now played in three so far this season, and the requirement is four. One of those events must be played after the US Open.
“This is a tough part of the year because there’s not really any weeks that make sense to take off,” Fritz told reporters at the National Bank Open.
“It’s 1000s, and to be honest, last week, and don’t get me wrong, I really like DC and I like playing the tournament, but with how busy my grass court schedule was, I would have probably opted out of it.
“But there’s a new rule: you have to play a certain amount of 500 events or you get a zero on your record. Because I was injured in the year, I missed two 500s, so I had to play DC in order to give myself a chance to meet my 500 quota for the year.”
Elaborating further, Fritz said the 500 quota isn’t ‘the best rule’ in his opinion. He is the second seed in Toronto this week, which is missing a series of high-profile players such as Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The trio have cited fatigue as the reason for not playing and wanting to get in the best possible shape heading into the US Open.
“I’m going to be honest, I don’t think that’s the best rule because I was injured earlier this year and I felt like I really could have used a rest week,” Fritz commented.
“I think a lot of the guys are obviously prioritising the US Open, and they don’t want to come out here, play Cincy and be burnt out for the US Open. So it’s just priorities.
“For me, being from North America, it’s a swing that I enjoy playing, and I’m excited to be here. “But I see for some of the European guys how it can be. It’s a lot and they probably want to prioritise the US Open.”
The 27-year-old is bidding to win his first Masters 1000 title in Canada since 2022. Overall, the US Open finalist has won 10 titles so far in his career, with eight of those triumphs being at 250 events.
Fritz will play his opening match against Roberto Carballés Baena on Wednesday.
