Taylor Fritz’s French Open campaign ended before it ever really began, as the American lost in the opening round to Nishesh Basavareddy.
Fritz went down in four sets, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 6-1, losing his first-round match in Paris for the second year running.
It was a rough return to Grand Slam tennis for Fritz after he spent two months out with a knee injury following the Miami Open. He’d only managed one clay-court warm-up event in Geneva before heading into Roland Garros.
After losing to world No.148 Basavareddy, Fritz made it clear he didn’t see it as a result of his own play but rather credited his opponent’s performance on the day.
Taylor Fritz reflects on his opening-round loss at Roland Garros
Speaking to the media afterwards, Fritz said: “I really don’t think my level was that bad, to be honest. I mean, all things considered, I thought actually I played all right. He just played incredibly well.
“I mean, the biggest thing was just the dropshots were crazy. He was hitting dropshots. Typically when someone is dropshotting me too much, I kind of just tell myself, okay, I need to hit the ball deeper.
“He was hitting insane dropshots, like, off balls that were landing on the baseline. He killed me with that, and there’s not really much I can do about it, like I said.
“I feel like he’s just hitting insane dropshots off of crazy shots to hit dropshots off of.”
How Taylor Fritz could be impacted by the coming grass season
Even though he matched last year’s result, Fritz, currently ranked ninth, didn’t lose any ATP points with his opening-round exit.
But there’s pressure mounting ahead of the grass season, where he was one of the standout players a year ago. He will need to find that level again soon.
The American had an incredible run in 2025, taking titles at both Stuttgart and Eastbourne before reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon.
This year, he’ll be defending a hefty 1300 points during the grass swing, with 800 of those tied to his performance at SW19.
If he fails to turn things around soon, Fritz could slip out of the top 10 for the first time since breaking through in 2024.
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