Taylor Fritz among three withdrawals from the Italian Open as retiring player steps in

Taylor Fritz has added the Italian Open to the list of tournaments he’s missed, continuing a stretch of absences.

He’s been dealing with tendonitis in his right knee since early in the 2026 season, and it’s clearly affected his form throughout the year.

Following his fourth-round exit at the Miami Open, Fritz even mentioned he was considering sitting out the entire clay-court swing.

Since then, he’s already withdrawn from events in Munich and Madrid. The Italian Open now joins that list, along with two other ATP players who have also pulled out.

Taylor Fritz pulls out of Italian Open as injury struggles continue

Fritz, who reached the quarterfinals in Rome back in 2024, won’t get a chance to build on that run this year after officially withdrawing from the tournament.

His absence adds to a growing list of withdrawals that also includes Kamil Majchrzak and fellow American Eliot Spizziri.

That brings the total number of withdrawals from the men’s singles draw to seven. Carlos Alcaraz leads that list, having pulled out of the entire clay season.

Svajda is coming in for Fritz, Duckworth will replace Spizziri, and Roberto Bautista Agut steps in for Majchrzak. Bautista Agut had already announced he’ll retire at the end of this season, so this will be one final appearance at an event where he has played many times before.

Could Taylor Fritz fall out of the Top 10 rankings if he skips Roland Garros?

Even if Fritz misses the French Open, his ranking isn’t expected to take a major hit. Last season, he won just three matches on clay and was knocked out in the first round at Roland Garros.

Fritz doesn’t have many points to defend after Madrid – just 70 – so staying inside the top 10 still looks very likely. That was one of the reasons he mentioned for considering a break from the clay swing: there isn’t much at stake for him during this stretch.

The bigger concern will come later in the year during grass and North American hard courts, where his schedule is far more packed with points to defend. If injuries linger into that stretch, it could lead to a real drop down the rankings.

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