Surprisingly difficult?

Will Fritz opening round be more challenging than it appears at first glance?

I remember their meeting in Indian Wells in 2022, four years ago. Fritz was getting stuck in rallies against the pesky Spaniard and was also getting moved around the court himself a fair bit. If you've been following our previews for a while, you will have noticed that we have mentioned that Fritz biggest flaw is his movement. That's what mainly sets him apart from the other elite players. Players with high rally tolerance who understand this and are able to not let him dictate from comfortable spots have a good chance against the American. Of course, it's something that is easier said than done... Fritz is one of the best servers and hits a huge forehand... and his backhand is very solid. Munar is a great returner; we've seen him play really well against many of them... look at his record against Shelton! Fritz was able to win the deciding set tiebreaker in Indian Wells back then and had to win the same way at the start of this year in the United Cup. So, two matches in conditions that should be really good for him, still such a struggle. I guess we can cut him a little bit of slack for the United Cup match; he was not at 100% then.

Fritz's hardcourt summer had its ups and downs. A title in Washington followed by a shock exit in Montreal, a bit of a "choke" in Cincinnati against Nakashima in the QF, and then another loss from two sets up as a huge favorite to Cerundolo at the USO in the third round. He did play a competitive match against Alcaraz in the Laver Cup after that, but overall I would say that it's slightly worrying, mainly the way he lost the matches. Munar is coming through qualifying with two solid wins against two other Americans, Giron and Kovacevic. Will Fritz be the American victim No. 3?