Nearly one year after he won the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells, Taylor Fritz is once again a champion on home soil. On the opposite coast from his native Southern California, the No. 1 American man claimed his fifth ATP crown at the 2023 Delray Beach Open.
Fritz lost just one set at the Florida ATP 250 event and nearly swept his way to the title before a late surge from Miomir Kecmanovic forced a deciding set in Sunday's final. After seeing a championship point go begging in the second set, Fritz regrouped for a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 victory.
"My first time back here in quite a while and the event was amazing," the 25-year-old said during the trophy ceremony. "The fans especially, the turnout was incredible and it makes me really proud to be an American playing at a home event, with how many people were in the stands.
"This year was incredible after losing in the first and second round [almost] every single year I'd been here. I couldn't be happier with coming back and having this result."
R1: def. Emilio Gomez (ECU), 6-4, 6-3
QF: def. Adrian Mannarino (FRA), 7-6(8), 6-4
SF: def. Mackenzie McDonald (USA), 6-3, 7-6(6)
F: def. [4] Miomir Kecmanovic (SER), 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
Photo by Paul Crock/AFP via Getty Images
With his victory, the world No. 7 Fritz became the higest-ranked champion in the 31-year history of the Delray Beach tournament, which set a new attendance record over the course of the week. An American has reached the singles final in eight of the last nine years at the event.
Fritz improved to 5-5 in ATP singles finals with his victory, including wins in each of his last four title matches (Indian Wells, Eastbourne, Tokyo, Delray Beach).
While the American stayed put at his career high of world No. 7 following his triumph, he is set to break into the Top 5 for the first time next Monday. With Rafael Nadal and Andrey Rublev both dropping points this week, Fritz is guaranteed to rise to No. 5 in the next edition of the ATP rankings. He will become the first American man to hold a spot in the Top 5 since Andy Roddick in September of 2009.
Fritz will next compete in Acapulco, Mexico, where he reached the Round of 16 last year. In March, he will return to Indian Wells to defend his title in the desert. Fritz's run to the 2022 BNP Pairbas Open trophy was chronicled in the Netflix tennis docuseries 'Break Point.'
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