Taylor Fritz wins 2022 Japan Open

Taylor Fritz (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

Taylor Fritz of Rancho Santa Fe, California has won his third title of 2022, and fourth tennis tournament of his career. On Sunday, Fritz won the 2022 Japan Open Final, where he beat fellow American Frances Tiafoe of Hyattsville, Maryland, 7-6, 7-6.

Fritz was the third seed, and Tiafoe was the fourth seed. In the first set tiebreak, Fritz won 7-3, and in the second set tiebreak Fritz won 7-2.

This was actually the fifth all-American final for an ATP singles event in 2022. However, it was just the second time for an event outside the United States. Also in 2022, Reilly Opelka of Delray Beach, Florida beat Jenson Brooksby of Carmichael, California, 7-6, 7-6 at the Dallas Open on February 7;  Opelka beat 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist John Isner of Greensboro, North Carolina 6-3, 7-6 at the United States Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston on April 4; Fritz beat Maxime Cressy of Los Angeles, California 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 in the final of the Eastbourne International on June 20; and Brandon Nakashima of San Diego, California beat Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks, California 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the San Diego Open on September 19.

En route to the final in Tokyo on Sunday, Fritz beat Sydney’s own James Duckworth 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 in the first round, Hiroki Moriya of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round, Canberra’s own Nick Kyrgios via a walkover in the quarterfinals, and Denis Shapovalov of Canada, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in the semifinals. Kyrgios, who withdrew with a knee injury according to inquirer.net, was the fifth seed and Shapovalov was the seventh seed. It is interesting that all three matches that Fritz played prior to the final went all three sets.

This was Fritz’s third ATP title win of 2022. In addition to Eastbourne, Fritz won Indian Wells, where he beat Rafael Nadal of Spain in the final, 6-3, 7-6. Fritz’s other ATP title came in Eastbourne in 2019, where he beat 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey of San Francisco, California, 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

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