Taylor Fritz is looking toward the Australian summer of tennis as an opportunity to launch his game to a new level in 2024.
In February this year, not long after his Aussie swing, Fritz became the first American man to reach the ATP top five since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The 26-year-old will approach the Aussie summer as he did this year, representing Team USA at the United Cup to start his season.
In an interview on this week’s episode of The AO Show podcast, Fritz said he was determined to repeat that triumph and hopefully use that form as a launchpad for a successful 2024.
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“We definitely are going back wanting to defend the title,” said Fritz, who will headline Team USA’s squad alongside Jessica Pegula.
“The main goal is to get ourselves out of the group first and then get ourselves to Sydney, and then we'll go from there.”
Despite a “disappointing” five-set, second-round loss to local Alexei Popyrin at Australian Open 2023, Fritz’s United Cup victory nevertheless set the foundations for a great season.
The American scooped two titles on home soil, in Dallas and Atlanta, and reached a career-best quarterfinal at the US Open.
He was also very consistent throughout 2023, winning more matches in a calendar year than ever before and remaining inside the top 10 for the entire year.
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“I felt like my just average level, when I wasn't playing my best, was pretty good,” Fritz said.
“In the end, I was still able to finish top 10, so I think if I'm not super, super happy with a lot of the results, and I'm still able to finish in the top 10, then it's probably a positive at the end of the year.”
The two-time major quarterfinalist will target another strong Grand Slam run at January’s Australian Open, where his best effort was a fourth-round run in 2022.
“I'm hoping I can kind of just regroup and start this upcoming year kind of like I have the last two years,” Fritz said, “and give myself a good kind of base to work off of for the rest of the year."
USA start their quest for a second consecutive United Cup title on 31 December against Great Britain in Perth.