San Diego native Taylor Fritz won his first Grand Slam match and ousted Marcos Baghdatis on Wednesday at the US Open in straight sets.
The 19-year-old wild card beat Baghdatis, 6-4 6-4 6-3, in the first round of the tournament. The 108th-ranked Fritz out played the 83rd-ranked Cypriot. Fritz saved eight break points in the match and converted five of his own in the win.
“I think I have had some tough Grand Slam draws in the past. I have been playing a lot of good players. I feel like the way I have played in a lot of my matches I would have beaten a lot of other players,” Fritz told Long Island Tennis Magazine. “I think it just wasn’t really meant to be a lot of the other times, like, against Jack, Isner, or Muller or Wawrinka or any other ones I played, you know. So, you know, I just approached it with nothing to lose, not put too much pressure on myself, play my game.”
Fritz, who now lives in Palos Verdes, will face sixth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem in the second round. Thiem defeated Australian Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-1 6-1 in his opening match.
The Baghdatis-Fritz match was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed to Wednesday because of rain.
