Taylor Fritz Already reaching a Grand Slam final and finishing in the top five the past two seasons, he’s proven to be one of America’s top players and a deep threat in every event he plays.
But the wear and tear of the past three seasons — which included 229 games, an average of more than 76 per season — took its toll on the Southern California native.
In fact, Fritz now says the biggest key to future tour success is staying healthy. This is no small thing.
“I think over the last four years I feel like I’ve evolved as a player and become a better tennis player,” he told reporters in Perth, where he is competing in the Fed Cup. “I think one thing I’m noticing now is the body has to be able to keep up with it.
“When you are a higher-ranked player, playing so many tournaments is a big ask for me. There is no doubt that I will continue to improve as a player. I think the most important thing in front of me is that I have to stay healthy and my body has to be as strong as it was when I was in the top ten in my first year so that I can continue to push it to the demands of the level of tennis that, I think, needs to be in sync with the top players.
After losing his first match to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez in three sets, Fritz admitted he spent much of the offseason trying to get his knee back into top shape. However, the work is not quite complete yet.
“I spent most of — almost the entire offseason — trying to rehabilitate my tendinopathy in my knee, but it took a few months to get better,” he said.
After an offseason without much tennis, Fritz still has a lot of rust to iron out.
“I didn’t score a lot of runs because I was trying not to push the game too hard,” he said. “So, trying to get reps, get points and compete, get me started to feel comfortable while also managing my knee pain because I’m going to try to play through games, continue to rehab while traveling and get better, but if that doesn’t work in a few months, then I’m going to have to completely stop and fix it.”
