This Tuesday, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, Taylor Fritz resisted for 3 hours 45 minutes against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, pocketing the second set of the match, but the American finally gave in at the end of the fourth set (7-6 [3], 4-6, 6-2, 6-3). At a press conference, the 12th in the world showed the blow after his defeat.
“You had a great match, but that’s not enough…
I played at a very high level in the first two sets. It was also a big physical fight, like two and a half hours for the first two sets. But he is so fast that he ultimately makes very few mistakes. It forces you to go hard, to always make quality shots to hope to win a point. And, for his part, he gives nothing.
If the first two sets were so long, it’s also because he never made a mistake on one of my second serves. That never happens, usually. I was doing seconds at 170 km/h and he was putting them back on the line. It gets really difficult when you don’t have any free points and you have to fight over everyone else.
“It’s difficult to stay at a very high level for two, three hours”
You still managed to save 15 break points in a row, which is quite exceptional.
Yes, it’s pretty crazy. I think I got there because I didn’t care about getting broken, so I let it all go. I didn’t care because I thought he deserved to break at times, because of my game. Because I should have served better, played better and not found myself in a position to save so many balls station wagon. But I’m still glad I did it.
How do you explain the last two sets?
Quite simply by a drop in the level of service. In the last two sets he didn’t give me enough free points. I can’t be on the court fighting to win my serves and find myself in the same situation when I return. On the first ball, I could no longer find the right areas. Against Novak, it’s not possible, he returns too well.
And then there was a physical decline. We had only played two sets, but it was very hot and it was very physical. Very physical. It’s difficult to stay at a very high level for two, three hours. In general, I don’t necessarily need to be at this level and so it’s difficult to stay there. »
