Taylor Fritz defeated Rafa Jódar in the Washington Open final, delayed by a day because of rain. The American, 28 years old, won 7-6(2), 6-4 and claimed his first title in the US capital and his eleventh ATP title overall, and climbed two places to World No. 8.
Meanwhile, Jódar, only 19, has climbed nine spots to a career high of World No. 15, cracking into the top 15 in only his first season at the ATP, after a tournament where he also defeated Lorenzo Musetti and Alejandro Tabilo. After a tight first set, he let escape two breaks in a row in the second set, but then recovered one and, when Fritz was serving for the match, he still managed to save four match points and even got a break point.
In the end, Fritz's superiority on points on first serve (82% vs. Jódar's 68%) set the difference, and now Jódar will hope that his fall when Fritz was leading 5-3 in the final set, damaging his wrist and calling medical assistance, ends up being nothing. "It's very recent, it happened 30 minutes or an hour ago, I hope it's nothing serious ," Jódar said in the press conference.
Both Jódar and Fritz will take part in the Canadian Open, an ATP Masters 1,000, starting this week, with little break since the final...
