The Weekly Recap: Pro Tennis Around the Globe

Taylor Fritz Conquers Eastbourne Crown for 4th Time

American Taylor Fritz has had one tournament across his career that has just clicked with his game year after year---the Lexus Eastbourne Open. The ATP 250 which serves as a key warmup for Wimbledon has handed its trophy to the world #5 four times since 2019, but this week may have just been the most memorable stay Fritz has enjoyed in the coastal city. As the #1 seed equipped with a first-round bye, he only needed to win four matches to take home the silverware. But these were no easy challenges. 

The 27-year-old opened against up-and-comer Joao Fonseca. As expected on paper, Fritz comfortably won the first set 6-3, but the Brazilian teenager wasn't done yet. He held even with Fritz in the second set, and took advantage of the opportunities dealt to him to win a key tiebreak and secure a third set showdown. Similar to the second, the third was also deadly close. Eventually, Fritz was able to avoid another potentially disastrous tiebreak and take home the dub 7-5, but his next task wasn't going to get any easier. Next on the checklist was Marcos Giron, a fellow American who while may have been ranked lower compared to his compatriot was ready to pull off an upset. Fritz fed off some loose points on Giron's serve to break at a crucial time, winning the first 7-5. Giron fought back in the second and claimed it 6-4. But Fritz is the more experienced on Eastbourne grass, and in the most critical point in the match he was once again able to excel and just slip by with a third set score of 7-5. 

Above: Taylor Fritz. Photo credit: Vbrunophotog, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

For the top seed at the event, you'd hope they'd settle in after a few difficult opening rounds. But that wasn't the case for the American in the semi-final. Pitted against  Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 6th seeded Spaniard was able to use previous Fritz encounters as a match map and studied it well. Fritz came out firing and won the first 6-3, but Giron knew the opportunities would come in the second. And he settled the score with a 6-3 response. But after working hard to fix the match in the second set, he had little left to give as the in-form Fritz surged ahead and booked his final spot 6-1 in the last set. Could the SoCal kid avoid another almost-elimination in the championship match? Indeed. Taking on Jenson Brooksby, Fritz had had enough of living on the edge and was hungry for the trophy from the very start. While Brooksby maintained a decent level throughout much of the first set---Fritz did what he does best: he won it 7-5 to be one set away from the win. And he dominated in the final set, sending Brooksby packing with a 6-1 thrashing to boost his grand slam hopes as the clock ticks down to Wimbledon. 

Pegula Defies Stacked Draw for a Key Win

Despite the fact that five out of the top ten players on the WTA tour flocked to Bad Homburg eager for some wins before Wimbledon, it didn't seem to bother the top seed Jessica Pegula who won some brutal battles and defeated a dangerous rival to shape up her form prior to the season's second slam. While it wasn't always the easiest path to victory for the world #3, she was able to win the right points in the most important moments and was able to convincingly walk away with a nice quartet of wins. 

Above: Jessica Pegula unwinding on her backhand. Photo credit: LHC88, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Starting off against Katerina Siniakova, Pegula knew she had a difficult opponent on the other side of the net as these two are no strangers---they've played each other multiple times in both singles and doubles. While Siniakova has recorded one win against the American, the top seed was up for the challenge and sent the Czech home with a comfortable straight set win. Heading into the quarterfinals, the competition was already getting stiffer as the American's next encounter was Emma Navarro, 5th seed and world #10. And she gave the expected victor wasn't going to walk away after an house on court. While Pegula did take the first 6-4, Navarro kept it together and looked like a completely different player all together in the second set---fending off Pegula 6-1 to carry her momentum into the third. But perhaps she burned a bit too much energy, because Pegula was able to extend the rallies in the third and force more and more errors on Navarro's part to sail to victory 6-3. The semi-final followed a similar pattern, with Czech opponent Linda Noskova snapping the first set in a tiebreak and holding steady with the top seed in the second, equaling her level until the score reached 5-5 in games and Pegula clinched it 7-5 with a key break on hand. And she proved why she's a top player in the third, demolishing Noskova and allowing her to only win one game. Final spot secured. 

While ranked ahead of her final task on paper, Pegula was the underdog on championship Saturday against 4th seed Iga Swiatek. It was expected to be another three set nail-biter, but this wasn't the case at all. Pegula seemed to almost have too comfortable of a time amongst the Eastbourne seagulls and stayed one step ahead of the Pole the entire match, adding the trophy to her suitcase with a 6-4, 7-5 victory. With this win, Americans are looking good on both tours as players suit up for Wimbledon. 

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Written By Florida Tennis contributor William Turvey. Top photo credit: Vbrunophotog, CC BY-SA 4.0, Spiralz from England, CC BY 2.0, si.robi, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons