Florida [US], February 20 (ANI): Defending champion Taylor Fritz stretched his win streak in the ATP finals to six matches on Monday and overcame wind, rain and a tough fight against Tommy Paul to successfully defend his Delray Beach Open title.
Fritz beat Paul 6-2, 6-3 on Monday, becoming only the second player in tournament history to win the event twice in a row, following Jason Stoltenberg in 1996 and 1997. The final was delayed by a day owing to rain, and it was windy all week, but Fritz persevered.
“I had a long list of things I needed to do well, but I think a lot of that went out the window when we realised the conditions for the match, [that it was] going to be so windy. On both sides, I had different ideas of what I wanted to do because [I was] just limited with the wind. I tried to serve as best I could, which it got me out of some trouble. I started to find it at the end. But it’s incredibly tough to play, do what you want to do when it’s windy like this,” Fritz said as quoted by ATP.
The winner has now won six straight ATP Tour finals, dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season. This is his first time successfully defending a title, and he did so without dropping a set.
The finalists came on Stadium Court at 2-2 in their ATP Head2Head series. However, Fritz maintained control for most of their fight.
At 3-3 in the second set, Paul spent almost 15 minutes attempting to break Fritz’s serve. But Fritz remained steadfast throughout the contest. He saved all seven break points in the match, according to ATP Stats. The top seed then broke Paul’s serve in the next game, holding to love to win the championship.
“I think there were some questions about how I was physically feeling. I didn’t play one of the rubbers at Davis Cup. I wasn’t feeling amazing after Australia, so it’s great to come here and feel like I’m moving and physically I’m definitely there and can keep playing,” Fritz said.
“I don’t need to take any time off to recover and mentally, it was tough conditions, especially today. I kind of just powered through it. All the pressure was on me this week defending the title and I was able to get through it,” he added.
Paul was attempting to win a title for the second time in a row, having won the Dallas Open the week before. The 26-year-old has won seven of his last eight contests.
“He won the breakpoints and I didn’t win the breakpoints. That was pretty much the difference. I think I came out with maybe a little too much energy inside and not letting it out. So it maybe looked like I was a little flat, but I definitely wasn’t on the inside,” Paul said. (ANI)
