Altmaier upsets Fritz at Roland Garros

Daniel Altmaier sprung the first major upset of this year’s Roland Garros Monday, when he downed fourth seed Taylor Fritz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

The No. 66 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Altmaier produced a rock-solid all-court display to unsettle the American throughout their two-hour, 41-minute clash. By defeating the World No. 4 Fritz, Altmaier notched his fifth win over a Top-10 opponent, and third at the clay-court major in Paris (also No. 8 Berrettini 2020, No. 9 Sinner 2023).

“It was very special,” said Altmaier. “I think I was working really hard the past weeks to get confidence, preparing myself for those kinds of matches. I feel like I’m ready to play whoever is going to face me. I’m really happy to get this first win and I really love my performance.”

Upset alert‼️@daniel_altmaier takes out Fritz 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-1 to advance to R2 in @rolandgarros #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/U0wQrer7P6

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 26, 2025

Faced with one of the purest ball-strikers on the ATP Tour, Altmaier combatted his opponent's big hitting with a barrage of his own punishing groundstrokes. This was highlighted in the fourth set, when the German secured a double-break lead with a series of heavy forehands to push Fritz back before delivering an inside-out winner.

Overall, Altmaier hit 44 winners in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Fritz, according to Infosys Stats. The 26-year-old, who reached the fourth round in 2020, will next face Vit Kopriva.

“I try to be as humble as possible,” added Altmaier. “The sacrifices every tennis player is [making] is unbelievable. I have a long vision and I definitely want to achieve something big in this sport, and I’m working for that, so that’s why I have to win matches.”

With his four-set defeat, Fritz fell to his first opening-round loss at Roland Garros since 2018, and just his second at Grand Slam level since the 2019 US Open. He notably made history at last year’s US Open, where he posted his best result at a major to reach the final and become the first American man to do so since Andy Roddick in 2006.

Fritz fell to an opening-round defeat at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome earlier this month and a quarter-final exit at the ATP 250 in Geneva last week before arriving in Paris.

“I feel like since between Rome, Geneva and here, my movement on court is really bad,” said Fritz in his post-match press conference. “I don't know what's going on. A lot of times when I'm sliding, I'm off balance, I'm not timing it correctly. I'm getting wrong-footed a lot, slipping a lot.”

Holger Rune rallied past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to seal his spot in the second round. The Dane is seeded for a third-round meeting with in-form Lorenzo Musetti, who improved to 23-5 on clay since last July with his first-round win against Yannick Hanfmann.

After Fritz’s early exit, Musetti and Rune are the two highest seeds left in their quarter of the draw, and both will fancy their chances of securing deep runs in Paris. Rune reached consecutive Roland Garros quarter-finals in 2022-23, while Musetti’s best run at the clay major is to the fourth round, achieved in 2021 and 2023.

The 10th-seeded Rune will next face Emilio Nava, and Musetti awaits Daniel Elahi Galan in the second round.