Sinner Knocks Out Indian Wells Defending Champion Taylor Fritz

Two years ago, Taylor Fritz defeated Jannik Sinner on the courts in Indian Wells, but the Italian got his revenge this year.

Early match breaks are generally rarely a problem in tennis, yet it proved a huge problem for Fritz, who gave up his serve in the first game. Somewhat of an erratic start by the American gave Sinner an early break, and when he confirmed it in the next game, things looked grim for Fritz.

His only break point came in that second game, as from that point on, Sinner mostly dominated on his own serve. Fritz was getting frustrated with every game as he wasn't able to exercise any kind of pressure.

A 16-winner stat line was simply too good from Sinner in the first set. The second set was somewhat similar, albeit a bit different. Fritz was very focused on his serve and didn't allow too many points for Sinner.

The world number 13 didn't have a single break point in the second set as Fritz won over 90% of points behind his first serve. Windy conditions didn't really allow either player to play as they wanted to, with the increased power mostly resulting in the balls flying wide.

Sinner made a few costly mistakes down 4-5, and they proved decisive in the second set. It went 6-4 to Fritz. The final set started with a proper bang. Sinner broke Fritz in the first game, but then he got broken in the next game.

If that wasn't enough, Fritz held his serve from 0-40 down to make it 2-1. It was calm for a few games until Sinner picked up his level once more, putting a lot of pressure on the American player.

The Italian player ultimately won the third set and the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, thanks to his better shot-making. He had more winners and served better to knock out the defending champion in Indian Wells.