Coach Michael Russell didn't shy away from revealing how he really felt about the American allowing Novak Djokovic a break in the key moments of the second set of their US Open quarterfinal match, describing the home player's level as "atrocious."
Down by a set, Fritz was also inches away from dropping the second set before getting the break back and tying the second set to five games apiece. But just when it seemed that the American might complete a big second-set comeback, he played a very poor service game as the Serb claimed a break with just one point lost in the game. Serving for the set for the second time, the record 24-time Grand Slam champion made no mistake.
Between sets, Fritz's coach Russell was interviewed by John McEnroe and Brad Gilbert n ESPN. And the former American tennis player was as honest as possible.
"He's giving Novak too much credit – just stay in the rally and find a forehand to go after. A lot of it is psychological, he has lost to him 10 times, but it's the US Open – get the crowd involved and just relax," Russell said on ESPN.
Fritz won the third set after being called out by his coach Russell, but lost the match
After taking some time between sets, Fritz looked much better in the third set as he earned the only break in the fourth game and didn't face any break points. But then, the American got broken in the 10th game of the fourth set – the game in which he was serving to stay in the match.
In his post-match presser, the 27-year-old admitted that he simply didn't come up with the goods required to beat Djokovic and reach the US Open semifinal.
"That's one of the things that makes the great players great. They win the big points, and that's something that I kind of touched on before the match, I'm going to need to go out and take those points from him. He's not just going to hand them over to me. That's exactly what happened. A lot of my weapons, aggressive shots were just not there, letting me down. So I felt like it was tough for me to go out and take those points," Fritz said.
