Fritz Now Confirmed to Stay In Top 10 Despite Failed Title Defense At Indian Wells
ATP
Taylor Fritz will stay in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings despite failing to defend his title at the 2023 Indian Wells Open.
After winning a title, there are a few things that a player has to do, and one of those is to defend it the next year. In 2022, Taylor Fritz lifted the biggest trophy of his career when he won the Indian Wells.
Therefore, he carried a big burden of 1,000 ATP ranking points throughout the season that helped him to become the first American in the Top 5 in 14 years but also meant that he could experience a big drop when the Sunshine Double arrived again.
The tall American was confident in his abilities to defend the title despite a very strong field coming to Indian Wells, and despite doing well initially, Fritz lost to Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals of the tournament.
That meant that his spot in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings was in danger as the American was projected to drop to the 10th place already, and Frances Tiafoe and Jannik Sinner, who were behind him, both still had a match to play.
While the Italian only needed one win, his compatriot would need to win the title in order to become the American No. 1 and kick Fritz out of the Top 10.
The semi-final day started well for Fritz, or at least for his personal ambitions, as Tiafoe was eliminated by Daniil Medvedev.
In the second semi-final match, it was confirmed that Fritz wouldn't leave the Top 10 as the first-seeded Carlos Alcaraz defeated Sinner and kept him out of the elite ten.
Fritz will now focus on the Miami Open, where he lost in the fourth round last year, so he doesn't defend as significant portion of points.
