I played a great match, couldn’t be happier – Taylor Fritz after beating Rafael Nadal

Taylor Fritz was delighted after he bested Rafael Nadal by 7-6(3), 6-1 in his opening match of the ongoing Nitto ATP World Finals on Sunday. The American feels he played a great match and was on cloud nine.

Fritz, who is making his debut at the ATP Finals, was able to stick to his strengths and made Nadal work hard. The American won 80% on his first serve and faced no breakpoints against the Spaniard.

Fritz had beaten Nadal in the final of the Indian Wells earlier in the season but had lost in the quarterfinal of Wimbledon despite the fact that the latter was struggling with an abdomen injury.

“It feels great. I felt like coming out first match, especially for my hopes of getting out of the group, it was going to be really important,” said Fritz as quoted by ATP tour.

“I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I needed to win out if I wanted to move on. I came out and played a great match, and I couldn’t be happier.”

The American feels the fast indoor court benefitted him against Nadal and he was able to make the most of it.

“The court’s definitely fast. For me, fast is good for my serve, it’s good for my backhand,” he explained in his on-court interview. “I feel like different speeds always have parts that help my game, and parts that hurt my game. On a slower court, I have so much more time to kind of load up on a forehand.

“On a court like this, I can lean into my backhand and hit it deep cross to Rafa’s forehand, and it makes it a but tougher for him to step in and crush it. On a slower surface, he gets time on the forehand when I go backhand cross, and it’s probably done for me. So I’d say that’s where it helps me the most on the ground against him.”

Taylor Fritz will next take on Casper Ruud on Wednesday. Ruud also won against Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets.