AMERICANS TAYLOR FRITZ AND DONALD YOUNG ADVANCE AT INDIAN WELLS TENNIS BY THE DIMONATOR

Written by: Staff on 11th March 2017

AMERICANS TAYLOR FRITZ AND DONALD YOUNG ADVANCE AT INDIAN WELLS TENNIS BY THE DIMONATOR |

Photo by Alejandro G. Valle for 10sBalls.com.

By Ricky Dimon

The words “strange” and “weird” have often been used to describe matches involving Benoit Paire, and his outing on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open was no exception. Paire lost to Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-2 during first-round action in a contest that required only one hour and five minutes to be completed.

Fritz benefited from facing a fragile Frenchman, who double-faulted nine times and served at a horrendous 35 percent. Paire also won a mere 31 percent of his second-serve points.

Fritz, meanwhile, fired five aces without double-faulting and saved the only break point he faced.

Taylor Fritz of United States returns a shot against Benoit Paire of France during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA 10 March 2017. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

“It was just a weird match because the ankle or foot injury or issue he had in the beginning,” the19-year-old American noted. “Sometimes he’d move really well; sometimes he wouldn’t. Sometimes he would just double-fault; sometimes he’d hit an ace.

“Just kind of focusing on myself and trying to keep my level consistent and focus on what I needed to do (was the key),” he added. “I had to focus on me and not so much what he’s doing or thinking about what he’s doing. Yeah, it was just a strange match.”

Perhaps no match was stranger than an all-American affair between Donald Young and Stefan Kozlov. Both players double-faulted eight times, neither man served better than 59 percent, and only two of seven break points were saved during the first set. In the end, it was Young who came away with a 7-5, 7-6(5) victory.

The two compatriots combined to fight off all eight break points in the second frame of play (four each), many of which took place during a clutch service hold by Kozlov at 5-5. Young responded to force a tiebreaker, and that’s when things really got crazy.

Young double-faulted four times in the ‘breaker alone, but he kept his chances alive by winning every single return point. Only one return point was one in the entire tiebreaker, and the Atlanta native seized it at 5-5. The match ended one point later when Kozlov shanked a backhand volley.

Up next for Young on Sunday is another all-American showdown against recent Acapulco champion Sam Querrey.