Top American Taylor Fritz will be in Sunday action in New York against the young new Swiss talent Dominic Stricker. The winner will book a spot in the quarterfinals.
If there is one thing that has been true of Taylor Fritz, it’s that the American has made an unfortunate habit of bowing out of his home Grand Slam early–often even shockingly early, as was the case last year when he lost to world No. 303 Brandon Holt in the U.S. Open first round. The No. 9 seed’s previous best result was the third round (2018, 2020).
This year, Fritz has finally shaken free. He has not only earned a spot in the round of 16 for the first time, but the draw gods also smiled kindly on him and he is s well positioned to move onto the quarterfinals. He breezed through his first three matches in routine straight sets, defeating Steve Johnson, Juan Pablo Varillas, and Jakub Mensik.
Dominic Stricker is a 21-year-old up-and-coming player. The world No. 128 has been threatening to break through for a while now. He managed to qualify for the French Open, Wimbledon, and in New York. He also won a Challenger event in Prague earlier this season. Stricker posted the win of his young career earlier this week with a five-set upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Asked to describe his preparation, Stricker said his pre-tournament routine was updated to “eat less sugar, less chocolate, all that stuff. Also for my team, they are also doing it, so it’s great for me to have this support from them.”
The Swiss’ groundstrokes and serve have all been firing during the first week of play. Playing Fritz at home will present probably the biggest challenge of the tournament so far for Stricker.
Fritz is in good form, so it’s hard to imagine Stricker snagging three sets from him–but the underdog could well take one.
Cheryl pick: Fritz in 4
Ricky pick: Fritz in 3
WWW?
I was at the Stricker-Tpas match, in the GS, and Stricker was fearless, esp in the 4th and 5th sets….but bigger stage helps Fritz…in 3.
Poor Stricker – He’s just played 2 tough five setters and is outperforming Fritz and down 2 sets to nil. It just shows, he’s a tough nut to crack.