Taylor Fritz was expected to begin his grass-court preparations by playing in the Stuttgart Open, but he has officially withdrawn from the tournament because of a back injury.
The Stuttgart Open, a 250-level tournament, heralds the start of grass-court tennis on the ATP Tour. It will run concurrently with the Libema Open, which is scheduled to begin on June 10th.
Former quarterfinalist Fritz was slated to be the third seed at this year's event and ramp up his bid for another deep run at Wimbledon next month. But his preparations have been crippled following a serious back injury he sustained during his most recent match at Roland Garros.
The big-serving American was eliminated by Casper Ruud in the fourth round of the clay major. He struggled with his movement and body coordination and requested a medical timeout multiple times. Eventually, he lost in four sets.
Fritz's girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, has shared an update on her YouTube travel channel. The pair have since returned to the United States, where the World No. 12 underwent a scan of the said injury.
Riddle explained in the vlog that her boyfriend was in "a lot of pain" after the match against Ruud. He has now withdrawn from Stuttgart and remains doubtful about Wimbledon.
"Taylor (Fritz) is injured. His match against Casper (Ruud) if you saw it he has a muscle that goes from his back all the way that kind of like loops forward to his groin called the psoas I believe it's called."
"It had been bothering him throughout the week, and then during the match, it was hurting so bad he could barely walk. He got like three medical timeouts during the match, and that's the maximum amount that you can get. He was in a lot a lot of pain afterward. We don't know what it is, we don't know the severity of it, he's getting a scan today."
The injury is a massive blow in Fritz's quest to return to the world's Top 10, considering that grass is usually one of his strongest surfaces. He was a quarterfinalist at 2022 Wimbledon and was in great form coming to this year's grass-court swing following a highly productive campaign on clay.
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