Taylor Fritz is testing his body more than he’d like, and it keeps holding up before a brutal first round against Draper
Drawn against a resurgent Jack Draper in round one, Taylor Fritz says his troublesome knee is holding up under a heavy grass-court load as he defends Wimbledon semi-final points that prop up his top-10 ranking.
Taylor Fritz, Halle 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Taylor Fritz arrives at Wimbledon in the best grass form of any American in the draw and with the hardest first-round assignment to match it. The sixth seed, a semi-finalist here last year, drew the resurgent British No. 1 Jack Draper, and met the difficulty with a shrug. “If I lose in the first round or I lose in the fourth round, it’s all the same to me,” he said. “I’m trying to go deeper than that.”
A tough opener, in his telling, is not a misfortune but a pattern. “If I have to get a tough one out of the way early, that’s going to help me go further,” he said, pointing to past runs built off awkward draws. The partisan Centre Court crowd that will back Draper does not trouble him either. “I’ve played in much more hostile environments,” he said.
Fritz is probably referring to Roland-Garros in 2023, where he knocked out home favourite Arthur Rinderknech and was booed so relentlessly by the Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd that he shushed the stands on match point and blew kisses as the jeers rained down. “I don’t think it’s going to be anything like that.”
He is clear, though, about the danger across the net. Draper returns from months out, having slipped from the top 100, with nothing to defend. “He’s going to come out super hungry, and there’s not really any pressure on him,” Fritz said. “That makes it dangerous. He can be very free in this match.” The pair have met five times, Draper leading 3-2 and holding their only grass meeting. Fritz declined to dress it up. “I expect a pretty high level from him,” he said. “But I’m kind of the same. I’m not too nervy about it.”
Last week’s withdrawal
There is more than a result riding on the fortnight. Fritz reached the semi-finals here last year, and that points haul now falls due to be defended; a early exit would put his place inside the top 10 under real pressure, with Flavio Cobolli, Alexander Bublik and Casper Ruud clustered just behind him. He arrives, at least, in genuine form – finals in Stuttgart and Halle – but so is the management beneath it.
Fritz withdrew from Eastbourne, where he is a four-time champion, after feeling a minor strain in his warm-up, a decision he defended against those who said it was poor preparation. “I could play through it, but it’s not going to get any better if I keep playing through it,” he said. Giving himself the week, he reasoned, was the surer path. “I know I could have fully gone and not be an issue for Wimbledon.”
It cut against his instincts. “I play my best tennis when I’m playing a lot and winning a lot,” he said, noting his two best Wimbledon runs followed Eastbourne titles. Pulling out still stung. “I felt really bad for the tournament, for the fans,” he said.
“The volume I’ve put on”
A separate, longer-standing concern is the knee that he says began troubling him on grass a year ago. He braced for it to flare again this fortnight; instead it has endured a heavy load. “It’s held up really well,” he said, “especially the kind of volume that I’ve put on” – nine matches in eleven days after Halle, more than half going three sets. “I’m definitely testing it out more than I wanted to.”
The verdict, for now, is the quiet one a contender wants. The body is answering. “I can only hope that it keeps holding up.”
