ATP Tour

Fritz gives knee update in Washington: 'It's totally fine'

Taylor Fritz played down any injury concerns related to his knee following his quarter-final win at the Mubadala DC Open on Friday.

The American, who saved a match point en route to a three-set triumph against Alex Michelsen in Washington, appeared to tweak his left knee while chasing a backhand and received a medical timeout for the issue at 2-2 in the third set.

“I had the exact same thing happen to me in Dallas on my right knee. The exact same injury, same spot, super sharp pain. It's more of like a tweak. I just tweaked it,” Fritz said in his post-match press conference.

“Because of how it was in Dallas, I felt really confident that I just needed to see the physio. I needed to work on it a little bit and then play a game or two and it would start to just get better, because that's what happened at Dallas. I tweak it. It's super sharp, feels really weird, and then it kind of just goes away. I think I got off the changeover and after four more games, it was a nonfactor after that.”

Fritz has been dealing with tendinitis in his knee since late last season and missed two months of action following the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami this year. The issue also impacted the American during his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat to Alexander Zverev in July.

However, the 28-year-old is not worried about the issue heading into Saturday’s semi-final at the ATP 500 event in Washington against Brandon Nakashima.

“I think it's totally fine,” Fritz added when asked whether he was concerned with the situation.

Fritz is into his fourth semi-final of the year and first in the American capital since 2023. The No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will hope to continue to find his best level during the North American hard-court swing, during which he reached the final at the US Open in 2024. Fritz is the seventh seed at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal next week and will open against Thiago Agustin Tirante or a qualifier.

The American is also currently 13th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and will need a good second half of the season to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth time.