Taylor Fritz defeated Fabian Marozsan, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round of the Halle Open.
The American was in fine form as he booked his place in the Halle Open quarter-finals.
Fritz looks much more comfortable on grass than he did on clay, having now won five of the six matches he’s played on the surface this year.
Who is your early shout to win the men’s Wimbledon title?
During his latest post-match interview, Fritz identified the weapon he can use on grass that wasn’t effective during the clay-court season.
Taylor Fritz says he can ‘actually use’ his backhand on grass courts
Fritz was asked about his backhand following his win over Marozsan.
“I can actually use it on grass!” he said.
“On clay it’s really tough to ever penetrate with my backhand, because it’s such a shot that I like to use pace and redirect with.
“When I’m not getting the pace on clay, I really don’t get to use it much, but on a nice fast grass court, especially when he’s hitting some backhands that come through, it feels great to lean into those and pull it line, pull some behind cross; it’s a huge part of my game.”
Fritz missed the majority of the clay-court season due to injury and didn’t win a match when he returned, losing his first-round matches in Geneva and Roland Garros.
On grass, his backhand and serve are far more effective.
The interviewer also asked Fritz about his serve, which was mighty during his second-round win.
Taylor Fritz vs Fabian Marozsan – Match stats
| Stats | Taylor Fritz | Fabian Marozsan |
| Aces | 16 | 3 |
| Double faults | 1 | 3 |
| 1st Serve % | 70% | 71% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 94% | 67% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 46% | 27% |
| Break points | 4/8 | 1/2 |
“It’s super important,” he said.
“I think I can serve better!
“I think today what I did a great job of was following it up.
“I hit a lot of really good second shots, and aggressive balls off of his first serve return.
“It felt nice today that the returns were coming back in a more defensive way. Yesterday, it was like I hit a first serve and it would just get blasted at me, so I did a good job of following it up.”
Fritz had trouble in the first round, as Belgium’s Zizou Bergs pushed him close.
He secured the win, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, before stepping into another gear in the second round.
“I played great up until 6-3, 3-0. I was feeling like everything was working, like I couldn’t play much better,” said Fritz.
“Unfortunately I kind of played one not-so-great service game, he hit some good returns, but I could have served and just played a bit better that game, so that’s probably the one thing that’s a little frustrating, because I’d be over the moon, perfect performance today, if we just minus that one game, but I’m happy with how I came back after that, was able to find another break and rebounded from that.
“Because those matches can turn really quick sometimes when it’s all in your favour, you lose the break, and then it’s back to even, so super happy with how I played.”
Fritz will now turn his attention to the Halle Open quarter-finals, where he could play either Ben Shelton or Ethan Quinn.
Having lost to Shelton in last week’s Stuttgart Open final, Fritz would surely love a shot at revenge in Halle!
Taylor Fritz made the right call swapping Queen’s for Halle
12 months ago, Fritz played Queen’s in London.
Fritz was one of the pre-tournament favourites, but lost his opening match against Corentin Moutet in three sets.
This time around, the American chose to stay in Germany after the Stuttgart Open to play Halle.
There is a long way to go, but the decision has already paid off for Fritz.
Reaching the quarter-finals, Fritz has boosted his chances of remaining in the top 10 post-Wimbledon.
When his Wimbledon semi-final (800) and Eastbourne title (250) points drop, the 28-year-old could drop to as low as 11th in the rankings.
Therefore, Fritz must take advantage of every opportunity to pick up points before then.
The winner of the Halle Open will earn 500 ranking points.
