Taylor Fritz was both elated and relieved following Sunday’s Atlanta Open finals win over Aleksandar Vukic.
Fritz fended off Vukic in three sets, winning 7-5, 6-7, 6-4. He addressed the crowd afterward in the best way he could.
To him, It feels good to “finally” win in Atlanta, after multiple appearances in this event, including a trip to the finals in 2019.
“I feel like I’ve always been close,” Fritz said. “I don’t think I could’ve gotten over another loss in the finals. Today it was like, ‘I’m here to win it.’ And I’d be absolutely devastated with a finals (loss).”
For the majority of this Atlanta Open, Fritz dominated. There were few times where an opposing player put significant pressure on him. After all, up until Sunday’s match, he didn’t drop a set. He also won 47 of his 48 service games throughout the entire tournament.
That changed with Vukic, who forced a tie-breaker in the second set with Fritz and won, setting up a winner-take-all third set.
Fritz, who now has six career tour titles, took command in the third set, primarily by taking a step back and assessing the situation. Vukic was giving him a lot of opportunities, so if he could hold serve, he could hang on to win.
“I kind of just hit the mental reset,” Fritz said. “If I lose a match after having the opportunities that I had, it’s gonna bother me a lot more. So it’s like, what option do I really have? You just have to move on and forget about it. I can’t let it bother me.”
On the other side, Vukic was pleased with his performance throughout the tournament. After notching wins over Atlanta native Chris Eubanks and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, Vukic rose up to No. 61 in the ATP World Tour rankings.
Vukic, although he pushed Fritz, acknowledged that the feeling is still bittersweet.
“He was just a little bit more consistent,” Vukic said. “Even if it was just a tad, like one percent. I felt that today.”
Fritz became the second American to win two ATP Tour titles this season, joining Frances Tiafoe. He previously won at the Delray Beach Open in February, defeating Miomir Kecmanović, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.
In Sunday’s win, Fritz was able to take advantage by returning Vukic’s second serve particularly well. Vukic said he felt like Fritz was a bit fresher in the third set. He said he understands there are still positives to take away from the experience.
“Obviously I have confidence that I pushed him far and really challenged him, but I don’t like to lose either way, so it’s bittersweet,” Vukic said. “Main thing here is just kind of competing out here takes you a long way. Doesn’t matter what tournament you play, with the right mindset, you can win matches.”
Fritz knows that continued success as the No. 9-ranked player on the ATP World Tour will come with stiffer competition. He noted that players tend to raise their level of play against him.
Even when he feels as if he played well in the past, he’s lost. He’s made it to the finals in various tournaments, but explained that he typically was just focused on being happy to be there.
On Sunday, however, Fritz switched up. He went with the mentality of “win at all costs” and it paid off.
“All that added pressure, I felt like I was here to win and nothing else,” Fritz said.
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