Taylor Fritz arrives at the Mutua Madrid Open hoping to put his injury troubles behind him. The American has struggled with an abdominal injury since the start of February and has been unable to compete to his full capacity.
“It has been really frustrating,” Fritz told ATP Media on Media Day in Madrid. “I think this year is the least amount of tennis I have ever played. I haven’t been playing in between tournaments because I have been trying to give it time to heal.
“I mismanaged it at the beginning. It wasn’t bad enough at the beginning to stop so I played. It happened before Dallas so I played Dallas, Delray and went to Acapulco and I probably should not have played any of those tournaments. I could play but I knew I [was] not going to be able to play well enough to win.”
Fritz took three weeks off after his quarter-final exit in Delray Beach and arrived in Indian Wells in better shape. The 27-year-old lost in the fourth round to champion Jack Draper and then soared to the quarter-finals in Miami before the abdominal injury flared up again.
“I took some time off [after Delray] and felt decent in Indian Wells and felt good in Miami," Fritz said. "I was really happy in Miami because the first time since Australian Open I was able to play with no pain, all out, not having to think about it.
“In the quarter-finals I re-injured it and before I went to Monte-Carlo I got a scan to see how it is and it showed I had a small tear. I took three more weeks, I wanted to give it a bit more time. It is feeling so far better. I have only played a couple days since coming back, so managing it. I just want to be done with it. It has been one of the most frustrating injuries I have ever dealt with because it has been so hard to get to go away.”
Forced to miss Monte-Carlo, Fritz is set to compete on clay for the first time this year when he takes to court in Madrid. The American ended 2024 at No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings, having reached the title match at the Nitto ATP Finals. Fritz is frustrated with the loss of momentum caused by his injury setback.
“It is very limiting of certain shots, so I try and not play certain shots. It has been impacting my game a lot,” Fritz said. I just want to be in a place where I can play like I normally play and not have to think about it.
Determined to rebuild lost momentum, third seed Fritz will play Christopher O’Connell in his opening match in Madrid. Fritz has fond memories in the Spanish capital, having advanced to the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 clay-court event last year.
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