Taylor Fritz opened his ATP Finals campaign with a straight-sets victory over Daniil Medvedev, then acknowledged his fine serving display was the difference. (More Tennis News)
Fritz recorded a 6-4 6-3 victory over the fourth seed to make a flying start to his second appearance at the season-ending event in Turin.
With world number one Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur – who face off later on Sunday – also lurking in the Ilie Nastase Group, Fritz knew the importance of using his serve as a weapon.
He won 85% (33/39) of his first-serve points to Medvedev's 79% (30/38), also firing off nine aces and not committing a single double fault, compared to eight of each for the Russian.
"The serve was a big part of it for sure," Fritz said after the match. "He's such a good returner.
"You can make a lot of first serves, but if they are not very high quality, he just puts so many returns in the court.
"It was huge for me, I hit a lot of lines, a lot of spots to start out games. I got out of a lot of service games with no pressure.
"Some of the ones we got tight in, I was either able to grind through the long rallies or get myself some free points."
Data Debrief: Fifty up for Fritz
Fritz's win made him just the fourth player to register 50 victories in ATP events this calendar year, putting him in an exclusive club.
Only Alexander Zverev (66), Sinner (65) and Carlos Alcaraz (52) have managed more such wins in 2024.
