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Take a look at our Taylor Fritz Indian Wells 2023 overview right here.
Fritz Indian Wells 2023 Odds
Contents
The world number 5 Taylor Fritz is the defending champion after lifting the title in 2022 for his maiden ATP1000 title. Fritz is also enjoying a strong start to 2023 with 2 titles already and a recent semi-final appearance in Acapulco. Below is a quick preview of Fritz 2023 Indian Wells chances. Here are the odds for reference:
At 7/1 (8.00) odds, down from 22/1 at the start of the tournament, the bookies clearly don’t give the 2022 champions much chance of defending his title. Fritz is currently only the fourth favourite for the title with these odds. Even his next opponent Sinner is given slightly better odds. A combination of a strong field and a tough draw in the early rounds for Fritz is what led to these high odds. Frankly, we don’t think Fritz has much chance of defending his title either.
Upcoming match vs Sinner – Fritz Indian Wells 2023
Fritz received a Bye in round 1 being the world number 5. The defending champions then went on to achieve 3 solid wins. He dropped just 1 set in those 3 matches and has played very well so far. Fritz’s own serve has been extremely effective up to now, he has the highest percentage of 2nd serve points won thanks to the spin he uses.
This could prove a very useful weapon against an extremely dangerous opponent like Jannik Sinner. Sinner likes to take his returns early and if Fritz manages to add even more spin to his serves he will be able to trouble the Italian.
The only previous meeting between the 2 was again at Indian Wells 2 years ago when Fritz won comfortably 6-4, 6-3 in a round of 16 match. Sinner has improved since, but so has Fritz. We think this will be a much closer contest and we anticipate it will need a deciding third set. Fritz has confidence and being the defending champion he certainly will fancy his chances.
Fritz Indian Wells 2023 Results
Fritz – Bye (2023 Indian Wells 1st Round)
- Fritz – Shelton – Won – 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 (2023 Indian Wells 2nd Round)
- Fritz – Baez – Won – 6-1, 6-2 (2023 Indian Wells 3rd Round)
- Fritz – Fucsovics – Won – 6-4, 6-3 (2023 Indian Wells 4th Round)
Fritz needed nearly 2 hours at the start of the defence of his Indian Wells title to eventually eliminate his young countryman Ben Shelton. Serving ace after ace early on Shelton won the first set of this match 6-4. Fritz then started to read Shelton’s serve better though and was able to break the youngster once in each of the next 2 sets and win as a result.
Fritz was solid on his own serve during the course of the game. He allowed just 1 breakpoint, the one that lost him the opening set. He also won 84% of the points on his 2nd serve, which was mightily impressive. He used a lot of spin on his second serve and this really troubled Shelton.
Fritz then improved vastly in round 3 where he dropped just 3 games in 70 minutes on a way to an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory against the world number 34 Baez. The fact that Baez is a clay-specialist helped Fritz to dominate every aspect of this match. He was again very assertive on his own serve and never allowed Baez any hope. Everything worked very well for Fritz in this match but again he was hardly tested much by a player that clearly struggled with the surface.
Fritz continued to dominate in round 4 when he won cleanly against the big-serving Hungarian Fucsovics. Fritz had some issues with his serve in this match as he committed 4 double faults. Still, his ability to read Fucsovics’ serve helped and in the end the American won comfortably enough. He allowed only 1 break of his own serve and continues to be very solid from the base line.
Taylor Fritz’s Form Ahead Of 2023 Indian Wells
Fritz won the United Cup back in January as part of Team USA, but then he suffered a round 2 exit from the 2023 Australian Open. Still, Fritz has recovered since and he won the 250Delray Beach title + reached 2 other semifinals. Here are the last five performances for a quick snapshot:
Fritz Form Prior to Indian Wells 2023
- Fritz vs Paul – lost – 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (2)
- Fritz vs Tiafoe – won – 6-3, 6-4
- Fritz vs Shapovalov – won – 6-4, 6-4
- Fritz vs Isner – won – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Fritz vs Kecmanovic – won – 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
The last match on this list was the final of the Delray Beach event which Fritz won on a way to his fifth ATP singles title of his career. The last 4 games were during his run to Acapulco’s semifinals. His dramatic defeat against fellow American Paul in his last match was a bitter experience as Fritz missed 4 matchpoints in that game.
Fritz Injury update: Slight concerns after a recent heatstroke
Fritz is physically looking in top shape. However, in his most recent tournament before Indian Wells Fritz had issues in a gruelling semifinal against Paul in Acapulco. The relentless heat of Mexico didn’t agree with Fritz and halfway through the match, he was vomiting on the court. Fritz still finished that match and since then has been training well, but monitoring his condition and ability to deal with extreme heat is advisable.
Can Fritz Defend His 2022 Indian Wells Title
Back in the 2022 Indian Wells Taylor Fritz lifted the trophy after beating in the final Rafa Nadal in straight sets. He also beat the world number 7 Rublev in the semifinal and really Fritz made his big breakthrough exactly 12 months ago on the courts of California.
Fritz will have a mark on his back entering this tournament, being the defending champion, and it is yet to be seen how the relatively inexperienced American will cope with the extra pressure. He certainly likes Indian Wells as before his title in 2022 he reached the semifinals in 2021. This is the first year he is not seen as an underdog though and he’s untested in such situations.
We don’t think Fritz has enough weapons and the right fitness to win a long tournament like Indian Wells. With that taken into consideration on top of the star-studded field we can’t see Taylor Fritz Indian Wells 2023 title-defence chances as very realistic.
Fritz Indian Wells 2023 Prediction – quarterfinal
Taylor Fritz Indian Wells 2023 draw was not a kind one. The defending champion was drawn in the top half of the draw where he is together with the world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz. Before Fritz can even think about the Spaniard he has to overcome lots of tricky tests though. As he beat his first opponent Shelton, despite dropping the first set, he sort of passed his first tough test.
Fritz then got lucky with the draw and his next 2 rivals are much easier. However, in the quarterfinals he is about to face the fast-rising Italian and third favourite for the title Sinner. We think Fritz’s run will end in that matchup as Sinner has the right weapons to hurt the American and he has done so on more than one occasion in the past. With so many potential tricky tests we think Fritz will struggle to make it even into the semifinals, let alone to try and defend his title on the final day.
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