American tennis professional, Taylor Fritz, has offered an insight into his current health status. After a string of injuries in the recent past, Fritz estimates his health to be at approximately “80 percent”. This comes after he managed to evade an unexpected elimination from the prestigious Indian Wells Masters.
Fritz, 27, experienced a string of setbacks after his exit from the Australian Open at the third round. A persistent oblique injury significantly hampered his performance, leading to a rather disappointing 2-2 result across tournaments in Dallas and Delray Beach. This was further exacerbated by an abdominal injury, which forced him to withdraw from the Acapulco tournament.
Despite these challenges, Fritz demonstrated his resilience, managing to recover sufficiently to partake in the Indian Wells Masters. His participation has thus far been successful, securing victories against Matteo Gigante (6-3, 7-5), and Alejandro Tabilo (4-6, 6-3, 6-1).
The world’s fourth-ranked tennis player opened up about his physical condition, stating, “I feel healthy. But yeah, I’m not going to feel as good tennis-wise as I have been, like, playing a lot of tennis and super confident, just because, yeah, had to take some time off to get it better. I’m not going to, I guess, feel like I have the proper prep. I knew I was going to have to play myself kind of into the tournament, and I’m doing that,”
Following his victory over Tabilo, Fritz reflected on what turned the tide in his favor. After winning the first set, Tabilo, the 30th seed, was leading 3-2 in the second set, albeit without a break. However, the match took an unexpected turn as Fritz, the third seed, secured 10 out of the next 12 games, turning what started as a balanced match into a one-sided affair.
When probed about his strategy, Fritz, who was the runner-up in the 2024 US Open, attributed his comeback to minimizing unforced errors. He explained, “I just stopped making super-random mistakes. For the first set and a half, I just, for no reason, was just missing balls. I couldn’t even imagine, I don’t know why I was missing them,”
Fritz’s next challenge is a matchup against Jack Draper in the Indian Wells round-of-16. As he continues to navigate his way through the tournament, it will be interesting to see how he manages his health and performance, given his recent injury history.
