MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAú

March 26, 2023

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

T. FRITZ/D. Shapovalov

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Well done again. What do you think made the difference against such a dangerous opponent as Denis today?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I felt like today I just protected my serve well. I played well in my service games. Didn't give him a lot of free points. Served well. Yeah, I didn't face any break points.

I was just able to capitalize on the one break that I got in both sets. That was the difference.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You have Holger Rune up next. How do you see that challenge?

TAYLOR FRITZ: It's going to be a tough match I think for a round of 16. Myself playing Holger is a very tough draw.

I'm excited to play him. We've never played before. I'm not entirely I guess sure what to make of his game. Obviously he's very good.

I guess we'll see. I guess we'll see when we play.

Q. Overall so far this year when you get to this stage, you can reflect a little bit on the hard court season. Where do you feel your game is overall?

TAYLOR FRITZ: It's pretty good. I think it's a big positive that I feel like I've been playing pretty good, not amazing, and I've been able to have the results I've been having. It's been pretty consistent, strong results. I feel like that's great that I've been able to produce those.

I feel like I'm playing good. I'm not feeling like I'm playing amazing. I'm not feeling like I'm playing bad. Happy with everything so far.

I'd say my one issue is that just losing semis Acapulco, quarters Indian Wells, it's like a massive difference in points when you get that deep into a tournament. You just win like one or two more matches...

It's been tough to lose two tough three-setters in those tournaments. It makes a big difference if I'm able to get through those.

Q. When you get an opponent upcoming, how much analysis do you do? A lot of players do a lot of analysis. Some prefer to focus on one or two things, mainly themselves. Do you do a lot of film work or is that distracting for you?

TAYLOR FRITZ: It really depends on how well I know the person. Someone that I played a lot, I've played Denis quite a bit, I didn't watch any video last night or anything. I kind of know what I'm going to get.

Yeah, when I'm not so familiar with the person, I will watch a good bit. I just want to kind of see what shots they feel more comfortable on, what they like to do on big points, stuff like that. Nothing too crazy.

I just like to know what people's go-to shots are in really big moments.

Q. I know you have a place in Miami. Do you like to spend training blocks here or is it more of a getaway relaxation spot?

TAYLOR FRITZ: No, I'll do training blocks here, for sure. It makes a lot of sense because we spend a lot of time in Europe. It's so much farther to go back to California, if I were to go back.

You get one week, two weeks off, a long stint in Europe, it's not at all worth it to go all the way back. It's just nice to come to Miami, have a place here.

I'd say I live here just as much as. But definitely looking forward to doing some big training blocks here in the heat, humidity.

Q. Regarding Denis, do you feel if he were more patient he would become a little bit tougher to play or do you think that ultra-aggressive shot selection does present the largest challenges playing him?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I think there's probably times that being more patient... There's times for both. I don't think it's just one or the other.

I mean, for me, what's always bothered me the most playing him is just how hard he hits the ball sometimes. It's tough, as someone who wants to be aggressive and attack, to do that when he's hitting every ball 90, 100 miles an hour. It does bother me a lot.

It would work and it would be fine if there were, I guess, less errors. But it's not. I think he obviously does what he feels comfortable with.

Q. Obviously Tommy has had a great start to the year. For someone who's known him forever, do you see anything in particular that he's doing differently?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people that have, like, known him for a long time, including myself, have known that he is this good, that this is the level. What he's showing, we all knew that he had that.

I feel like he's cut down a lot on these kind of just like sloppy games where he makes a couple errors and maybe gives a break away. He seems more solid, locked in, making people earn it a lot more. He's much more solid. I feel like his serve has also improved a little bit.

Q. You mentioned Holger before. Have you watched any match of his that sticks out to you or anything about his game in particular?

TAYLOR FRITZ: No, we've had some practices. Even when we practiced, I'm not kind of like overanalyzing his game. I don't really watch much tennis at all outside of when I'm, I guess, watching someone I'm about to play, just when I'm kind of like in passing at tournaments.

I've never really seen too much of Holger play, so I'm going to have to familiarize myself a bit. I'm sure I'll learn a lot when I'm playing him.