At Indian Wells, Fritz can’t make anything of his chances
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — He had chances. Taylor Fritz made that concession. The trouble was he couldn’t make anything of those chances.
A guy named Nikoloz Basilashvili was responsible for that.
Tennis can be a tough game, whether you’re playing or promoting. The sport hits the headlines when people such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafa Nadal are hitting forehands in your tournament.
The rest of the guys on the ATP are tremendous. What they don’t have is the so-called Q-factor, recognition beyond their homeland, which for Basilashvili is Georgia — not the state with the No. 1 football team, the country in the Caucasus where the Warriors’ Zaza Pachulia also grew up.
Basilashvili pounds the ball. Then again, so does Fritz. What also took a pounding Saturday in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden was the hope an American might reach the Sunday final and help fill the 16,100-seat main stadium.
Instead, Basilashvili defeated the local hope, Fritz, 7-6 (5), 6-3. And in the other semi, Cameron Norrie of England (and everywhere else) defeated the quite recognizable (and not because he once dated Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams) Grigor Dimitrov, 5-3, 6-4.
That everyone in the stands (and the tournament offices) wanted Fritz, a native of southern California, to win was nothing against Basilashvili.
It’s just that in a sport of individuals, with no home teams, the ones from next door — whether door is a figurative label — invariably are of more interest to those in attendance or watching on TV.
But the kid from next door, Fritz, 23, wasn’t able to make the breakthrough American fans have wanted. Although ranked roughly the same as Basilashvili (29th to 31st) and playing the same type of sledgehammer tennis, Fritz couldn’t score.
“It was really tough,” said Fritz, “because I wanted to come out and play aggressively and attack, but I just couldn’t get many chances. I had a lot of chances to break. But other than that, it was tough for me to get an opportunity.
“He definitely has a backhand harder than anybody on Tour. The way it comes at you, so hard and flat and deep, there’s nothing you can do.”
Since Basilashvili is 29 and hasn’t won a Slam, his other opponents must have done something.
Fritz has spoken about silencing his inner self — meaning just hit the ball and don’t overthink. “I think I did a good job,” he said. “When I would get a little nervous or worried, I kept telling myself I would win the match.”
Except Basilashvili won it.
“I was relaxed in the big moments,” said Basilashvili. “Taylor made me play a lot of balls. I was more focused. Which is why I was able to save break points.”
The question on a day when the temperature in the desert nudged 90 degrees was whether he or the other men still left can save a BNP Paribas event in which No. 2 ranked Daniil Medvedev and most other top seeds were eliminated early.
Norrie, another virtual unknown, was born in South Africa, went to New Zealand, and now lives in England. He is also a Horned Frog, having played at Texas Christian.
He’s had as many tournament wins this year as Djokovic, if in lesser tournaments, and almost silently has moved to the No. 1 position among British players.
He’ll face Basilashvili in the final.
“I was just going out there and playing my game,” he said of the tidy win over Dimitrov. “Making all the rallies long.
“I’ve faced some pretty decent players in the third round this year — Rafa in Australia, Rafa in the French, then Roger at Wimbledon. Those experiences have been great for me.”
A final at Indian Wells isn’t going to be a bad experience either.