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0 USA star Taylor Fritz has blamed a new cardio regime for pulling up sore during his 7-6, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie at the United Cup in Perth.
Fritz took a medical timeout during the second set and had his thighs worked on by team USA’s trainer before returning to win.
Despite looking in discomfort, Fritz went on to steer himself to victory and claw the US back into contention, after teammate Jessica Pegula went down to Great Britain’s Katie Boulter in the women’s singles match 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
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The 26-year-old opened up on why he was being treated during the match, squashing concerns about his workload and being “pushed too hard” this early into the Australian summer season.
“I don’t really sprint that often. I do other types of cardio, so they (coaches) made me sprint a little bit,” Fritz told Jim Courier on the Channel Nine post-match coverage.
“I don’t sprint that much, so I got really sore, really tight and I carried it all the way into today.
“I think I overdid it just running for one of the drop shots and maybe just tightened up, strained something. But we got through it.”
Fritz spoke about powering through the match as Norrie made a string comeback before he was pipped at the post.
“It was a really tough match obviously. Cam (Norrie) and I have played each other so many times and it’s always a battle, it’s always close,” Fritz said.
“I got pretty lucky at the end of the first set tie-breaker, hit some shots (that) I probably miss more than I make.
“In the second set, just hung in there with my serve. My serve definitely kept me in it, and then I was able to steal a break.”
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