Taylor Fritz revealed he battled “a really strange injury” at the start of his Acapulco match against John Isner. Fritz, who achieved a career-high ranking of No 5 this Monday, came from a set down to beat fellow American John Isner 3-6 6-3 6-4 in his first match as a top-5 player.
Fritz appeared to be dealing with a knee injury in the first set but looked better as the match progressed. “It was really strange. It’s something that I’ve dealt with when I was 18. Typically I only feel it when I’m getting off a flight or I haven’t played in a few days and I’m stiff.
So I don’t know why I felt it like that. I haven’t felt it in matches in a long time. But once I started feeling better I started to play well. I thought I played really well in the third. I’m extremely happy. When the draw comes out, (Isner) is not what you want to see in the first round.
It’s a 50/50 match; it can go either way. I was lucky to get through,” Fritz said after the win, per Tennis Majors.
How Fritz defeated Isner?
The first break points of the match were seen in the eighth game, when Isner broke Fritz for a 5-3 lead.
In the ninth game, Isner routinely served out for the first set. After losing the first set, Fritz had his first break points of the match in the eighth game of the second set – the world No 5 converted and took a 5-3 lead.
In the following game, Fritz served out to love to send the match into a third set. After winning the second set, Fritz missed out on a break point in the seventh game of the third set. Fritz maybe didn’t break Isner in the seventh game but he managed to do so in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead.
In the 10th game, Fritz saved a break point en route to serving out for the match to complete his comeback win against Isner.
