Paris Olympics 2024: Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (7) Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper
Date: July 30, 2024
Tournament: Paris Olympics 2024
Round: Second Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
Category: Olympics
Surface: Clay
Live Telecast: USA - NBC, Peacock | UK - Eurosport, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer | Canada - CBC Gem, Radio Canada, Tou.tv | India - JioCinema, Sports18
Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper preview
USA's Taylor Fritz will take on Great Britain's Jack Draper in the second round of the Paris Olympics 2024.
Fritz was drawn against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the first round, the current World No. 25. The American broke his opponent's serve in the very first game of the match, and backed it up with a hold of serve. He held on to this lead until the end of the set to clinch it.
The second set played out in similar fashion. An early break of serve laid the groundwork for Fritz to surge ahead, and he maintained his position as the frontrunner until the end of the match to secure a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Draper began his Olympic campaign against Japan's Kei Nishikori, who bagged the bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Brit cruised through the opening set and claimed it for the loss of only one game.
Draper was the first to create a break point opportunity in the second set but Nishikori kept him at bay to remain on serve. The latter had four break point chances on the former's serve in the sixth game but fumbled all of them.
This proved to be a costly mistake for Nishikori as Draper broke his serve in the next game to go 4-3 up. The match was over soon after that, with the Brit coming through 6-1, 6-4.
Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper head-to-head
The two have split their previous couple of meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Fritz won their most recent encounter at this year's BMW Open in Munich in three sets.
Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Taylor Fritz vs Jack Draper prediction
Both players made a winning debut at the Olympics. Fritz was clinical against Bublik, firing 12 aces and winning a massive 91 percent points on the back of his first serve.
Draper played a pretty good match himself as he struck 20 winners compared to 12 unforced errors against Nishikori. Neither the Brit nor the American dropped their serve in the previous round.
Fritz and Draper's previous match also took place on clay a few months ago in Munich. It went down to the wire as the American rallied from a set down to eventually sneak past his opponent in a third set tie-break.
Fritz improved his record on clay to 14-6 this season with his win over Bublik, while Draper notched up his fifth victory on the red dirt. The American has been the better player on the surface this year, and will be favored to advance further.
Pick: Taylor Fritz to win in three sets.