Jaume Munar beat Taylor Fritz in the round of 32 at the Japan Open in Tokyo 6-7 6-4 6-3 and advanced to the round of 16. The ATP 500 event is being played on hard courts, and the prize money is $2.4 million. The Spaniard is No. 60 in the rankings with 900 points, while the American is seeded third and sits 12th with 2880 points (source: api.tennis, rankings by rank.tennis).
The response after the tiebreak
The first set went to a tiebreak, and Fritz took it: 7-6 to the American. Munar did not let his opponent build on that momentum and won the second set 6-4 to level the match. In the deciding set, the Spaniard dropped three games to Fritz and closed out the match 6-3.
In Tokyo, Munar started in qualifying. In the first round of qualifying, he lost a set to Marcos Giron but won 5-7 6-1 6-4, and in the second he comfortably beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2 6-3. Before the Japanese tournament, the Spaniard lost in the semifinal in Seville to Facundo Acosta 6-4 3-6 6-7.
For Fritz, this is the continuation of a rough run: before Tokyo he fell to Carlos Alcaraz at the Laver Cup 3-6 6-4 11-13, and at the US Open in the third round he lost to Francisco Cerúndolo after leading by two sets to love, 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 4-6.
The head-to-head between the two has always produced long matches: all three meetings went to three sets. Fritz won in Indian Wells in 2022 6-4 2-6 7-6 and in 2026 in a match at tournaments in Perth and Sidney 7-6 3-6 7-6. The win in Tokyo cut Munar's deficit in their head-to-head to 1:2.