Taylor Fritz needs to make some sensible decisions to improve his chances of competing for the Wimbledon title.
Fritz lost to Frances Tiafoe in the final of the Halle Open, having beaten Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton at the ATP 500 tournament.
This was a second consecutive grass court final for the American, with Fritz losing to Shelton in the Stuttgart Open final the week prior.
Fritz is now scheduled to play another tournament ahead of Wimbledon, but it is clear what he must do to give himself the best possible shot of competing for his first Grand Slam title.
Taylor Fritz should not play the Eastbourne Open
Fritz is now scheduled to play the Eastbourne Open as both the top seed and defending champion.
Last year saw Fritz claim a record fourth title in Eastbourne, having won double the number of titles any other male singles player has at the ATP 250 tournament.
While it is clear that Fritz has a lot of sentimentality attached to the Eastbourne Open, he does not need to play any grass court matches ahead of Wimbledon.
Fritz has been dealing with tendinitis in his right knee this year, which forced him to take a break for most of the clay court season.
Competing on grass can often provoke further injuries, particularly in areas like knees, and Fritz has already played nine matches on the surface going into Wimbledon.
Therefore it would not be a sensible decision for Fritz to play in Eastbourne, and most top players do not compete in the week before a major tournament anyway.
Who is your early shout to win the men’s Wimbledon title?
Taylor Fritz could have his best ever opportunity for a Grand Slam at Wimbledon this year
Although Fritz has lost in both of his grass court finals so far this year, Wimbledon could be the best opportunity of his entire career to win a Grand Slam.
Carlos Alcaraz is not playing Wimbledon this year, as he continues to recover from a wrist injury, opening a big opportunity for many other top players.
Jannik Sinner will still be the favourite for the Wimbledon title, but Roland Garros proved that anything can happen at these major tournaments.
Fritz is the current world number seven, but it could be argued that he is one of the top three grass court players at Wimbledon this year, having reached the semi-finals last year.
The 28-year-old has struggled against both Sinner and Novak Djokovic in his career, so Fritz will be hoping that he is in the other half of the draw to both of them, where he would have a real shot of reaching the final.
Who is now the best active ATP player without a Grand Slam title after Alexander Zverev’s French Open victory?
However, if Fritz plays in Eastbourne then there is a real possibility that he arrives to Wimbledon physically spent and unable to compete in longer best-of-five set matches.
A decision on Fritz’s participation at the Eastbourne Open has yet to be made, but he has time to do so as the top seed receives an automatic bye to the second round.
