ATP Weekly: Fritz wins Washington title - but what does it mean? Jodar's meteoric rise under the microscope | Montreal preview #canadianopen

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**Fergus** (0:28)
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**John Silk** (0:57)
Well, hello there, and welcome in to ATP Weekly, where it is Monday, but we have just finished the Washington final. It's Taylor Fritz, who takes the title over the 19-year-old Rafael Jodar.
And we also are starting Montreal. That was supposed to start yesterday. I guess it did start yesterday. We finished two matches yesterday.
Jerry Shang, back in the winners column, for the first time since February, given he has taken just about five, five and a half months off. But we are underway in Montreal as well. Been dealing with a lot of rain.
So, who knows how much more action will get there tonight. But yeah, we'll focus on Taylor Fritz for a bit, who is the last one standing. And I say that via kind of the American route. It was not the best week for American tennis players. But some of them did stand out, Taylor Fritz being the first, but Brandon Nakashima also having a great week. You know, he does enjoy playing on US soil. But regardless, Fergus, thanks for joining me. Any thoughts on this final, Taylor Fritz or the Americans having a tough week in Washington?

**Fergus** (2:28)
It was, it's tricky, cause this was always gonna be a testament of how Fritz was gonna take his first steps in this, you know, American hard-court swing after, you know, the whole injury concern in the knee, you know, kind of the talk about his knee coming from Wimbledon when he got, you know, a bit of a beat down from Zverev.
Played really well throughout the week. Kind of felt like as soon as he, you know, made, you know, the semis, it was like, it was gonna take a lot for him to not win it, because he was, you know, arguably the best player in the draw. You know, you could say Diminor, but feel like Fritz always has more expansibility, not even a word, more expansion of his game than Alex does, has a higher level to bring when he wants to. And in the final, listen, after he took the first set, was pretty tricky. After he took the first set, felt like he was a long way back for Rafa, considering he's played multiple three setters and kind of, you know, come through some late night exchanges. And, you know, Taylor, with his experience showing, right? You know, 500 on home soil, kind of biggest title since Tokyo 22, which is a long wait for Taylor, right? For to win another 500, picked up three 250s in that time, I think, three or four, but great from Fritz all week. His forehand's been really good. What was it? He was, I think Tennis Insights posted that when as six all in the first, as in when it went to a breaker, he was sitting at about a forehand rating of 7.0, and he ended the match after the breaker, and then the second set was at 9.3. So clearly stepped it up when he needed it to.
Americans disappointing. Now, no one can convince me Shelton is going to have a good US swing right now. And I really, he was not convincing this week at all for me.

**John Silk** (4:50)
Okay, I'm going to have you hold that thought, because we'll focus on him next.
But yeah, as you mentioned, good week for Fritz. I thought he did a good job kind of growing into the tournament, you know, one match at a time. I think Bergs gave him a lot of gifts in that first round match. And it's always difficult, right? You know, first round, having that extended rest period, and especially for Fritz who's coming off the injured knee. So, that was something that we were all keeping an eye on. And it actually did flare up on him during this tournament. I think it was his third match, but he said he was able to kind of manage it and play through it. And I was like, that's a little concerning, but the reality, he was still playing a great brand of tennis and focused on today, a very solid performance. And when I think about analyzing kind of that day off and maybe, does it help one player more than the other? I didn't really have a strong hunch. I was thinking that it would benefit both of them. One, for Rafa, just because of the duration that he's been on court this week, much longer matches, and Fritz obviously a little bit of rest for the knee, and a little bit more PT and whatnot, just to prepare him and give him that period. So I thought it would help both of them, but yeah. Fast forward to the first set tie break, just a really clean breaker from Fritz, where he was good on both serve and return, and just made Rafa play.