Obvious?

Taylor Fritz is playing a lot better in this second half of the season and is coming off a final in Tokyo. His floor is really high now...

And this kind of match, I feel like I’ve seen it plenty of times—at least felt it. Like: yeah, Fabian’s got the kind of flashy game to bother Fritz, maybe even snag a set, but in the end we all know who’s gonna win. Stan took the second set off Fabian because he started neutralizing his opponent’s power and aggression with the backhand slice (Fabian was going after the backhand a lot). But Fritz has the engine and baseline solidity to neutralize him overall. Especially since Fabian’s not exactly a killer on the return. But—and this is where it could get interesting—Taylor Fritz sometimes has this annoying habit of drifting into passivity. He got pushed around in Tokyo in the early rounds: Diallo, Borges, Korda… all guys who took their chances and went right at him. Plus physically, it wasn’t perfect for Fritzy in the final. He had his leg taped up. And with the heat and humidity out there, I’m saying you gotta try something…