Daniel Altmaier sprung the first major upset of this year’s Roland Garros Monday, when he downed fourth seed Taylor Fritz 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
The No. 66 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Altmaier produced a rock-solid all-court display to unsettle the American throughout their two-hour, 41-minute clash. By defeating the World No. 4 Fritz, Altmaier notched his fifth win over a Top-10 opponent, and third at the clay-court major in Paris (also No. 8 Berrettini 2020, No. 9 Sinner 2023).
“It was very special,” said Altmaier. “I think I was working really hard the past weeks to get confidence, preparing myself for those kinds of matches. I feel like I’m ready to play whoever is going to face me. I’m really happy to get this first win and I really love my performance.”
With his four-set defeat, Fritz fell to his first opening-round loss at Roland Garros since 2018, and just his second at Grand Slam level since the 2019 US Open. He notably made history at last year’s US Open, where he posted his best result at a major to reach the final and become the first American man to do so since Andy Roddick in 2006.
Fritz fell to an opening-round defeat at the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome earlier this month and a quarter-final exit at the ATP 250 in Geneva last week before arriving in Paris.
“I feel like since between Rome, Geneva and here, my movement on court is really bad,” said Fritz in his post-match press conference. “I don’t know what’s going on. A lot of times when I’m sliding, I’m off balance, I’m not timing it correctly. I’m getting wrong-footed a lot, slipping a lot.”
Former Roland Garros finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas recorded his eighth consecutive first-round victory by defeating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. The Greek No. 1 has set a meeting with Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante and could face 13th seed Ben Shelton in the third round.
© Copyrights Sixsports. All Rights Reserved.
