Citi Open 2023: Taylor Fritz vs Andy Murray preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Taylor Fritz vs (15) Andy Murray
Date: August 3, 2023
Tournament: Citi Open 2023
Round: Third round (Round of 16)
Venue: Washington D.C., United States
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,013,940
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN
Taylor Fritz vs Andy Murray preview
Top seed Taylor Fritz will square off against former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the third round of the 2023 Citi Open on Thursday.
Following a first-round bye, Fritz faced fellow American Zachary Svajda in the second round. The top seed proved to be too good for the World No. 233 as he clinched the first set by breaking his opponent's serve twice.
Svajda had Fritz on the ropes in the second set as he held three break points each during two of his service games. However, the World No. 9 managed to dig deep to get himself out of trouble.
Svajda's failure to capitalize on his chances came to haunt him soon enough. Fritz went on the bag the last three games of the set to win the match 6-3, 6-3.
Murray also received a first-round bye and commenced his campaign against Brandon Nakashima in the second round. Neither got a whiff of a break point in the first set, which was then claimed by the Brit in the tie-break.
Murray then broke Nakashima's serve at the start of the second set. The former World No. 1 was under pressure during his next two service games, but managed to fend off multiple break points to hold serve. He served for the match at 5-4 and after saving yet another break point, got the job done to win 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Taylor Fritz vs Andy Murray head-to-head
Fritz leads Murray 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2022 Canadian Open in straight sets.
Taylor Fritz vs Andy Murray odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Taylor Fritz vs Andy Murray prediction
Fritz saved all eight break points that he faced against Svajda in the second round, while hitting eight aces and winning 85% of his first serve points. The American also blasted 35 winners in contrast to 10 unforced errors.
Murray also played at a pretty high level to defeat Nakashima. The Brit came forward to the net to finish off points quite often, to great effect as well. He played a bit more aggressively than usual and his strategy yielded rich dividends. He'll need to the the same against Fritz in the next round.
The American won the Atlanta Open last week and is currently on a five-match winning streak. Fritz dealt with Murray quite easily the last time they faced off as well.
The three-time Major champion, meanwhile, has just one win over a top 10 player since the start of 2022. It's going to be an uphill batlle for Murray to get the better of an in-form Fritz, with the latter being the favorite heading into this encounter.
Pick: Taylor Fritz to win in straight sets.