Taylor Fritz criticised after what occurred during his defeat in Lyon ultimate, ‘he is so stubborn’

Taylor Fritz impressed en route to the Lyon Open ultimate, but once he got there, the end result was disappointing.

Pitted against Lorenzo Musetti, who had not won a title in 4 years, there was an expectation that the American would win this one simply.

Advertisement

After all, his opponent was coming off the back of a gruelling run, having overwhelmed Luca Van Assche in a three-hour and 32-minute quarter-final, before then outlasting his countryman Flavio Cobolli after saving 4 match factors.

Physically, he was spent, and yet Taylor Fritz could not crack the code.

Rennae Stubbs, delivering her post-match evaluation, was left surprised by what she saw from the 28-year-old.

After all, she argued that while he may be regarded as one of the sport’s most analytical minds, he came across as ‘cussed’ during his eventual loss to Musetti.

Taylor Fritz’s Lyon Open ultimate efficiency slammed

Speaking on her Rennae Stubbs podcast, she acknowledged: “If that match was not an indicator of what I have been talking about for years now with Taylor… it’s his inability to go forward to the net.”

Advertisement

Referencing the ‘notoriously gradual’ court, she defined how such situations nullified Fritz’s largest risk: his serve.

His lack of ability to get these simple free factors dragged matches out, but with Musetti’s one-handed backhand, another alternative was there for him to exploit.

And yet, he failed to capitalise.

Stubbs continued: “Watching the match, it was so evident to me that his inability to know what to do inside the service line area, towards the net, is so obvious when he plays someone like Musetti.

“You have to be ready to come in and attack the one-hander. As good as his backhand is, it’s more attackable than a two-handed backhand, where they can use the left hand to manipulate the ball a bit to make it simpler to hit a passing shot.

Advertisement

“I just sat and watched the match, and I was like ‘dude, there were so many opportunities to come in, and he just refuses to come in’. To this day he is so stubborn. Yet he is so smart.”

Stubbs emphasised how refreshing it is to converse to Fritz about tennis, because of his information.

However, she caveated that by including: “It just surprises me that he does not understand why getting better at the net and transitioning better to going forward at the net stops him winning matches that he should be winning. That was the perfect indicator of it to me. I don’t understand why he doesn’t just spend two months trying to figure out how to move better moving forward and how to volley better, because it costs him. Big time.”

Fritz’s Lyon draw was brutal, but he bypassed most of it with ease. It was disappointing to see him fall so far off the mark in the ultimate, after working so onerous to attain that stage.

With this in thoughts, Fritz’s ATP Finals probabilities stay slim, but wholly attainable given he still has occasions in Basel and Paris to earn big factors.