After a three-month break from tournament competition, #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz is picking up where he left off at the $150,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in Ilkley, U.K.
The 19 year old took out fifth seed Go Soeda of Japan in the opening round and then survived a scare against Yuki Bhambri of India before advancing in three sets. Fritz will play third seed Evgeny Donskoy of Russia in a rain-delayed quarter-final on Saturday.
Fritz had been in top form before opting for a three-month training block during the clay-court season, having scored his first Top 10 win against Marin Cilic at the BNP Paribas Open in March. But despite missing the red clay, he said he’s already reaping the rewards of training at home in California.
“I’ve been playing pretty good so far this week. I played really well in my first round and picked it up in the next match,” he noted. “I worked on pretty much everything when I wasn’t playing tournaments. A lot of fitness and getting my body stronger, especially my legs. We worked a lot on my volleys and my serve, both of which are big on the grass.”
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Fritz has competed primarily on the ATP World Tour for the past two seasons, but is no stranger to Challenger success. He won two Challengers in California at the end of 2015, in Sacramento and Fairfield, before opening his 2016 season with a third title in Happy Valley, Australia. Fritz also reached the final this February at the $125,000 event in Dallas, Texas (l. Harrison).
But despite his extensive Challenger experience, Fritz said his time this month in grass-court events in Surbiton and Ilkley is new territory for him.
“I’ve never seen Challengers as strong as Surbiton and Ilkley. The field is ridiculous,” said Fritz. “The main draw cut for both of them is about No. 150 (in the Emirates ATP Rankings). I’m entered in ATP World Tour events next month in Newport and Los Cabos, and the cut for those is about No. 130. Apart from Newport and Los Cabos having a couple of Top 20 players, there isn’t much difference in the quality.”
Currently ranked No. 132, Fritz’s short-term ambition this summer to get back into the Top 100. After watching a slew of #NextGenATP players win both Challenger and ATP World Tour titles this year, he’s eager to do the same.
“I know that I can play with all of these guys, so seeing them do what I want to do is a motivator,” he said. “My goal this year is to win an ATP World Tour title, so I want to start by winning a Challenger title, pick up some confidence and go from there.”