Madrid
Fritz stays perfect vs. Baez; Zverev also through to Madrid fourth round
Cerundolo defeats Paul in three sets
April 28, 2024
Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Taylor Fritz earns his fifth Top 20 win of the 2024 season.
By ATP Staff
Taylor Fritz continued to dominate his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Sebastian Baez with an emphatic win on Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open. With a 6-2, 6-3 result, the 12th seed improved to 5-0 against the Argentine, with each victory coming in straight sets.
After four previous meetings at hard-court ATP Masters 1000s, including this year in Indian Wells, Fritz remained in control on the Spanish clay. The American did not face a break point in the match, winning 85 per cent of his first-serve points, and he converted on three of his seven break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
One week after reaching the Munich final on clay, Fritz is through to the Madrid fourth round for the second straight year, matching his best result at the event. He will bid for his first quarter-final appearance when he takes on eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz on Tuesday.
“I think there’s more variety in my game in general,” Fritz said of his recent clay success. “In my last match in the second round [against Luciano Darderi], that was really on display. I was drop-shotting, I was moon-balling, I was doing a bit of everything. I feel like I’ve had that, I just never really used it as much.
“On hard court I feel like I have better shots I can hit on those situations, but on clay it works quite a bit.”
Fritz in form ????????
Munich finalist @Taylor_Fritz97 defeats Baez 6-2, 6-3 ???? R4!@MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/V1kVrmpKQ4
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 28, 2024
After earning his first clay win against a Top 20 player in the PIF ATP Rankings since defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Fritz is now 5-3 against the Top 20 this season.
Baez, who leads the ATP Tour in clay wins this season (15-4), was bidding for his third Top 20 victory and his first since 2023. Entering the event at a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 19, he was seeking to advance to the Madrid fourth round for the first time in his second appearance at the ATP Masters 1000.