Defending Champion Taylor Fritz fended off a concerted attack from Cameron Norrie in the opening set of this first round match at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships in two straight sets.

These two players have met 12 times in the past with a split score but this second in a row win for Fritz following his win at the United Cup (new country teams competition organized at the start of the year in Australia before AO) helps him distance himself from Cameron. Fritz holds a rank of 10 in the world with 6 major titles, while Norrie is in 18th place with 5.

Following an early break by a very aggressive Norrie to take the lead with 3-2, Fritz came back on court with a significantly upped intensity level breaking back largely thanks to his powerful serve to level the match at 4-4. Fritz’s strong serve gave him a series of aces to take the first set 6-4. The statistics back up his serve prowess with no less than 13 aces compared to Norrie’s 3 and a low return rate of 21% of first serves by Norrie as well as only 32% return rate on second serves compared to Fritz 60%, as Fritz’s serves thundered down on him.

Fritz was dominant in the second set and took the break immediately with a 2-0 lead on Norrie which he further consolidates on serve to 3-0. Norrie fought back consistently throughout the second set notably at 2-4 down where there were several deuce/advantage spats. However despite this onslaught, Fritz continued his dominance and wrapped up the match 6-3.

This win comes after Fritz lost in the 3rd round of the Shanghai Masters 1000 to Diego Schwartzmann, depriving him of some important points to move into contention for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in November. He currently knocking at the door in 9th position.

Commenting on the match Fritz said that Norrie had put him in a spot with his play and the early break but he was able to come back with some very good points to break back. “In the end I played the bigger, more important points better”. He admits there is an ‘American Wave’ in tennis with players such as Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton and himself which he says he finds motivating. Fritz goes on to play Shintaro Mochizuki in the second round of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.