By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) – American Taylor Fritz harnessed his mighty serve to roll into the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, beating compatriot Darwin Blanch 6-3 6-2 6-4 in the second match of the day at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A finalist in 2024, Fritz looked right at home in New York against the 18-year-old wildcard, hitting 14 aces to set up a meeting with either Mattia Bellucci of Italy or Hungarian Zsombor Piros.
“It’s never easy to come out and play another young American,” said Fritz, who had a withering appraisal of his own return game.
“He gave me a lot of opportunities with some doubles, with some second serves.”
Fritz had a mixed run-up to New York, winning in D.C. before losing his Montreal opener, but he had no issues on Tuesday, as he dropped only one first-serve point in the opening set and got the break in the sixth game.
He wore down Blanch’s defences in the second set, converting on his fourth break point in the fifth game and again in the seventh, as costly errors began to pile up for the teenager on his Flushing Meadows debut.
Blanch let another shot go past the baseline on break point in the opening game of the third set and Fritz slammed his foot on the gas from there, extinguishing the only two break points he faced in the second game with an ace and a punishing backhand.
He sealed it with an unreturnable serve, giving the home fans more reason to cheer after compatriots Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton both won during Monday’s night session.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
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