Taylor Fritz completed a really strong week in Atlanta to win the Atlanta Open by beating Aleksandar Vukic in the final.
The American was the overwhelming favourite to win the final after producing a sensational effort to get into the final. Fritz showed a high level of play during the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles before this event but lost to Yibing Wu in the final.
He found revenge in Atlanta this week, beating Wu en route to the final. The American was the overwhelming favourite in the final against Vukic, who is not a player that generally makes it this deep in ATP events. Fritz is the higher-ranked player, in better form and with more experience.
All that experience proved quite crucial in the match as Fritz won both sets by waiting out his chances and pouncing in the high-pressure moments of the match. The American didn't allow a single break point to Vukic in the opening set, cruising comfortably through his service games.
He had an early break point that he didn't use but then he used the second one to win the set. The next set was pretty similar as Vukic once again saved an early break point but faced match points at 5-6 in the second set. This time around he held his nerve and forced the tiebreak escaping the first set scenario. Both were really good on the first serve but Fritz was better dropping only a handful of points.
On the second serve, Vukic faced some problems while Fritz remained solid and ultimately that proved crucial a couple of times in the match. Vukic couldn't use any chances because he didn't have any, at least not until the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, the Australian stuck around and used one of the chances he got to steal away the set 7-5 in the tiebreak.
Some Fritz fans became worried as the American looked a bit shaken at the start of the 3rd. Vukic looked comfortable and cruised through the games, but it didn't last. The American upped his level, took his chance, and found himself up 5-3. From there, it was smooth sailing for the 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 victory. A 6th career trophy for Fritz.
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