Fritz faced Medvedev in the first singles match of the year-end Finals. They were neck-and-neck until the Russian hit three double faults in a row to lose the opening set and smashed his racket.
He calmed down until the middle of the second set when the American broke to lead 4-2 after a shanked ball miraculously landed inside the baseline. Medvedev chucked his racket, receiving a point penalty.
He continued as Fritz served to extend his lead, throwing it into the air in between every point and turning it around to return a point, holding the racket by the head. At the change of ends, Medvedev even threatened to retire from the match.
But he played on and Fritz beat him to start the round-robin stage with a win. Afterwards, the US Open runner-up shared his reaction to Medvedev’s shenanigans.
“I mean, I was just laughing. I think he’s really funny, to be honest,” Fritz said. “Even when he’s not playing me, he always cracks me up.
“He’s pretty funny. I was laughing more in between the points when he was, like, tossing the racket up. It’s just him. He had the upside down racket, but it’s 40-Love on my serve. It’s whatever. He ended up making the return anyways.”
Although Medvedev didn’t put Fritz off, the world No. 6 knew he had to stay locked or risk a late fightback from his opponent. He continued: “I had to tell myself to really, like, focus.
“The way he played some of the points at 5-2 when he was serving showed me that he wanted to hold that game, then he was going to try to break me at 5-3.
“Sometimes when your opponents, like, make it appear almost like they’re not trying, maybe they’re not trying for a game, you can kind of lose your focus.
“Then they start trying again, they kind of catch you off guard. That happens a lot more in pro tennis than you think, the kind of half tank, then I’m going to try a real quick play, and then they get you.”
Fritz got the job done but he knew things could’ve been different if he didn’t serve well. “I had to stay focused and be ready at 5-3,” he added.
“I knew at 5-3, if I didn’t serve a good game, he wasn’t just going to just give it to me. He was going to try really hard. He was going to play a good game. So luckily for me I served a really, really solid game there. Didn’t really give him a chance to play that game.
“But yeah, I mean, he was going to definitely fight for that game. If he breaks me there, we’re basically back to even, so…”
Fritz will be back in action on Tuesday to play the winner of the second singles match between Jannik Sinner and Alex de Minaur. Medvedev will play the loser.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk