Fritz Defends Oracle Challenger Series Title

Southern California’s Taylor Fritz always seems to play his best tennis in his own backyard.

For the second year in a row, Fritz of Rancho Palos Verdes, and a rising star on the ATP Tour, came straight from Melbourne and the Australian Open to the Newport Beach Tennis Club to capture the Oracle Challenger Series singles title.

In the end, it was Fritz’s serve that got him through the tough moments and he managed to fire off an impressive 16 aces against Canadian Brayden Schnur to win the match 7-6 (7), 6-4.

Even though he’s played all over the world, there’s just nothing like being at home. “It’s the best,” Fritz said with a smile. “I always play my best tennis in California. I had all of my friends from school here, my whole family, my mom, my dad, my wife, my son – everyone came out.”

Fritz added: “I told myself, it doesn’t really matter how well he serves, if I just focus on my serve and I don’t get broken,” said Fritz. “I feel really confident in tiebreakers so I told myself, ‘make him beat me in tiebreakers, worst case scenario.’ ”

Read the full "Fritz Defends Oracle Challenger Series Title" article from the Southern California Tennis Assocation.