Fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz continued to display his top form on Thursday at the Australian Open, routing Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 in second-round action.
In his two victories, Fritz has lost a total of eight games.
The 27-year-old entered the tournament having led the U.S. team to the United Cup title earlier this month. He finished last season on a roll, too, reaching his first career Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open before advancing to the title match at the ATP Finals.
“It always feels great to come out and play a match like that,” Fritz said. “I played well in the first round, too, so I’m high in confidence going into the third round. This is awesome.”
Fritz racked up 24 winners to Garin’s nine, and Garin committed 32 errors to Fritz’s 20. The U.S. player took advantage of seven of his nine break chances without ever conceding a break point.
Following the match, Fritz, a Southern California native, announced that he was donating his first-round winnings (more than $80,000 U.S.) to relief efforts related to the wildfire disaster in the Los Angeles area.
“Southern California’s my home and L.A. was my home for a very long time, so I’m just doing what I can do to help,” he said. “I would encourage anyone else who can donate to help, too, because a lot of people really need help.”
Next up for Fritz is a matchup against another hot player, 38-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils. Last week, Monfils won the event at Auckland, New Zealand, to become the oldest player to capture an ATP Tour-level title since 1977.
Monfils defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Thursday.
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy recovered for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 win against Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate, who is ranked No. 173 in the world. The defending champ lost a set in a tour-level match for the first time since early October but advanced to the third round in 2 hours, 46 minutes.
“It’s always tough to play against a player I don’t know very well,” Sinner said. “I felt like he was serving very well. He was playing much better in the beginning than I was. Obviously with the crowd, it was an amazing atmosphere.”
Sinner struck 14 aces and only faced one break point while finishing with 42 winners and 29 unforced errors. Schoolkate offset 13 aces with 10 double faults and 52 unforced errors.
American teenager Learner Tien knocked off three-time Australian Open finalist and No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in a thrilling late-night marathon, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (8), 1-6, 7-6 (7) that lasted nearly five hours.
Ranked 121st in the world, the 19-year-old qualifier survived 20 aces by Medvedev, who lost to Sinner in last year’s final. Tien finished with a slight edge in winners (53-52) and committed three fewer unforced errors.
No. 13 seed Holger Rune of Denmark outlasted Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Rune rang up 16 aces and saved seven of 10 break points to hold off Berrettini, who led 6-5 in the fourth set.
Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan showed No. 17 Frances Tiafoe the door with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
In other second-round action, No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia whipped U.S. qualifier Tristan Boyer 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy downed Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 6-2; Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic upset No. 18 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-4, 6-4, 6-2; No. 19 Karen Khachanov of Russia defeated Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-3; No. 21 Ben Shelton of the United States topped Spain’s Pablo Carreno-Busta 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4; and No. 31 Francisco Cerundolo advanced when fellow Argentine Facundo Diaz Acosta retired while trailing 6-2, 1-0.
–Field Level Media
