Taylor Fritz has been managing an injury all season.
The American number-one revealed he was struggling with ‘knee tendonitis’ at the United Cup last December, and is still dealing with the issue.
During his pre-Miami Open press conference, Fritz suggested he may take a break from tennis to return to 100% fitness.
However, after Fritz lost to Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round, he explained why he is hesitant to miss several months of action.
Taylor Fritz doesn’t want to put himself in a situation where he has to play catch-up
During an interview with ‘Bounces‘, Fritz was asked if he is worried about missing out on points if he skips tournaments to heal his injury.
“There’s a lot of that,” he said.
“I hate being in a spot where people are picking up points, and I’m not giving myself an opportunity to pick up points.
“It sucks.
“I hate kind of having to play catch-up, like I did last year: I came back at the end of clay-court season, and I was like 20th in the race. And I was stressed out that we’re halfway through the year, and I was like 20th in the race.
“So I don’t like putting myself in those positions. I mean, obviously it worked out for me last year, but I obviously don’t want to keep putting myself in those situations where I’m playing catch-up, because I’ve missed time.”
Fritz recovered from 20th in the race to sixth in 2025, qualifying for the ATP Finals.
2025 ATP Race to Turin
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | Spain | 11,050 |
| 2 | Jannik Sinner | Italy | 10,000 |
| 3 | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 4,960 |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 4,830 |
| 5 | Ben Shelton | USA | 3,970 |
| 6 | Taylor Fritz | USA | 3,935 |
| 7 | Alex de Minaur | Australia | 3,935 |
| 8 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 3,845 |
| 9 | Lorenzo Musetti | Italy | 3,840 |
| 10 | Jack Draper | Great Britain | 2,990 |
Following his fourth-round exit in Miami, Fritz sits 15th in the Live ATP Race
Live ATP Race
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 1 | Carlos Alcaraz | Spain | 2,950 |
| 2 | Jannik Sinner | Italy | 2,100 |
| 3 | Daniil Medvedev | Russia | 1,700 |
| 4 | Alexander Zverev | Germany | 1,490 |
| 5 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | 1,400 |
| 6 | Alex de Minaur | Australia | 1,045 |
| 7 | Ben Shelton | USA | 1,010 |
| 8 | Arthur Fils | France | 980 |
| 9 | Felix Auger-Aliassime | Canada | 965 |
| 10 | Jakub Mensik | Czechia | 895 |
| 11 | Frances Tiafoe | USA | 855 |
| 12 | Francisco Cerundolo | Argentina | 850 |
| 13 | Tomas Martin Etcheverry | Argentina | 835 |
| 14 | Tommy Paul | USA | 765 |
| 15 | Taylor Fritz | USA | 765 |
| 16 | Alexander Bublik | Kazakhstan | 760 |
| 17 | Learner Tien | USA | 735 |
| 18 | Flavio Cobolli | Italy | 690 |
| 19 | Luciano Darderi | Italy | 685 |
| 20 | Jiri Lehecka | Czechia | 645 |
He’s just 215 points away from the qualification spots, although that gap would widen should he take time away from tennis.
But if Fritz is going to skip tournaments to heal his injury, surely now is the time to do it…
Taylor Fritz has never won a clay-court title
Fritz has won 10 ATP titles, but has yet to lift a trophy on the clay.
And he’s only played one final, two years ago in Germany.
- 2024 Munich Open final – Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Taylor Fritz, 7-5, 6-3
The surface is, by some distance, Fritz’s worst.
That’s not to say he’s bad on the red stuff, far from it in fact, but if Fritz is going to miss tournaments, rankings-wise, it makes sense for them to be on clay.
The worst thing Fritz can do is struggle through the clay-court season and arrive on grass, his best surface, still well-below 100%.
He should instead take a much-needed break from competitive action before returning for the grass season.
Where he won three titles and narrowly missed out on a place in the Wimbledon final last year…
Taylor Fritz on grass in 2025
| Tournament | Tier | Performance | Match wins |
| Stuttgart Open | ATP 250 | Champion | 4 (Quentin Halys, Marton Fucsovics, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Zverev) |
| Queen’s | ATP 500 | First round | 0 |
| Eastbourne Open | ATP 250 | Champion | 4 (Joao Fonseca, Marcos Giron, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Jenson Brooksby) |
| Wimbledon | Grand Slam | Semifinals | 5 (Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Gabriel Diallo, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Jordan Thompson, Karen Khachanov) |
Only time will tell what the future holds for Fritz, but it will certainly be interesting to see when and where he returns to tennis.
Fritz has withdrawn from the Monte-Carlo Masters, but is scheduled to compete at the Munich Open, which begins on Monday, April 13.
