Murray, Fritz Headline ATP Winners on Day 1 of W&S Open

Day 1 of the Western and Southern Open action kicked off today, with Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz headlining. Today’s action had everything from big wins for veterans to upsets for Next Gen players. Let’s dive right into the action. 

Perhaps the biggest storyline of the day was Andy Murray beating young American Frances Tiafoe in 3 grueling sets. Perhaps the most decisive moment of the match was during the second set when Murray had a 0-40 lead on Tiafoe’s serve. Tiafoe fought back to make it 30-40, but Murray fought on the very next point to break Tiafoe. From there, though Tiafoe ended up winning the set, Murray gained a new sense of confidence and played much cleaner for the rest of the match, and ended up winning 7-6, 3-6, 6-1.

For Murray, this was a much-needed win in his quest to return to his prior form before his injury. Though this was not vintage Murray, there were definitely signs that he is on the right track. For Tiafoe, his 2020 season woes continue. Tiafoe has been especially weak in best of 3 matches in the last year, as he has dropped an astonishing 14 straight best of 3 matches when having to play a 3rd set. Hopefully, the young Tiafoe can bounce back at the US Open.

However, another young American played some of the best tennis of the day, as Taylor Fritz cruised through his match, beating Lloyd Harris 6-1, 6-3. Fritz was nothing short of dominant today. He served up 9 aces, converted on 4/5 break points, and won an amazing 100% of all his first-serve points. He also won 82% of his total service points and won 48% of his total return points, keeping the pressure on Harris for the entire match.

Fritz continues his momentum from earlier this year after he made his first ATP 500 Final at Acapulco. Fritz has been on a roll for the majority of the shortened 2020 season, as he is 6-1 in his last 7 matches, with his only loss being to the great Rafael Nadal. If Fritz can keep this type of play up, he could somehow make a deep run in this tournament.

Surprises of the Day 

The biggest upset of the day was Alex de Minaur’s loss to Jan-Lennard Struff. Struff made short work of Minaur, whose weak play could be attributed to post-COVID jitters. The match was very sloppy, as neither play played particularly well, but the main killer for Minaur was his dismal play on second serve points, as he only won 31% of those points (8/26). He also struggled to win his return points, as he won 19/59 total return points he faced. Minaur hopes to bounce back at the US Open.

In addition, Benoit Paire was forced to retire in his match against Borna Coric. He seemed physically fatigued and ill, as he took some medicine in the beginning stages of his match, though it did not seem to help. It is currently unknown what exact illness Paire may have, but for now, it seems that he is set to play the US Open.

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Day 1 Results 

[Q] R Berankis def. [W] T Paul 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5

[15] F Auger-Aliassime def. N Basilashvili 6-4, 6-1

J Struff def. A de Minaur 6-2, 6-4

B Coric def. B Paire 6-0, 1-0 (Retired)

T Fritz def. [Q] L Harris 6-1, 6-3

P Carreno Busta def. D Lajovic 7-5, 6-1

R Opelka def. [Q] C Norrie 6-3, 6-4

[PR] K Anderson def. K Edmund 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3

[W] A Murray def. [W] F Tiafoe 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-1

M Raonic def. S Querrey 6-4, 6-4

F Krajinovic def. [Q] S Caruso 7-5, 6-4

[12] D Shapovalov def. M Cilic 6-3, 6-3

Day 2 Schedule 

11:00 AM EST

C Ruud vs [9] D Schwartzman

[11] K Khachanov vs A Bublik

[WC] T Sandgren vs L Sonego

1 PM

D Evans vs [10] A Rublev

[Q] M McDonald vs [Q] M Giron

[Q] A Bedene vs [13] C Garin

[Q] M Fucsovics vs [Q] N Gombos

3 PM

[16] J Isner vs H Hurkacz

[14] G Dimitrov vs U Humbert

A Mannarino vs J Millman

5 PM

[PR] K Anderson vs [4] S Tsitsipas

[Q] J Wolf vs R Gasquet

[Q] S Korda vs [Q] E Ruusuvuori

7 PM

B Coric vs [7] D Goffin

Day 2 of W&S Open coverage begins at 11 AM (ET) on Tennis Channel and ESPN.