Taylor Fritz Wins Delray Beach Open Title

February 20, 2023 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo Credits: Andrew Patron/Delray Beach Open

 

American Taylor Fritz captured the fifth ATP Tour title of his career on Sunday afternoon, defeating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 to claim the Delray Beach Open championship, much to the delight of the pro-American crowd.

“My first time back here in quite a while and the event was amazing,” said Fritz. “The fans especially, the turnout was incredible and it makes me really proud to be an American playing at a home event, with how many people were in the stands.”

Fritz was competing in Delray for the sixth time in his career but hadn’t returned to the Florida event since 2020.

“This year was incredible, after losing in the first and second round [almost] every single year I’d been here,” he added. “I couldn’t be happier with coming back and having this result.”

 

Fritz seemed to be on his way to a routine victory on Sunday as he handed Kecmanovic a bagel in the opening set, and set up multiple break points at 4-3 in the second set. But he was unable to convert and coughed up a match point at 5-4 to leave the door open for Kecmanovic, who capitalized by breaking Fritz en route to winning the next three games to force the deciding third set.

The American kept his cool, though, and used the backing of the crowd to rally him in the decider. He broke for a 3-1 advantage, and added to that lead with another break to seize control of the match. Fritz never looked back and sealed his victory after one hour and 57 minutes.

In the doubles final, the top-seeded pairing of Marceloa Arevalo of Spain and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands defeated Australia’s Rinky Hijikata and American Reese Stalder 6-3 6-4.

As the seventh-ranked player in the world, Fritz is the first Top 10 champion in the three-decade long history of the Delray Beach Open. This year’s event also set a new attendance record.

 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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