Taylor Fritz had to fight his way past the unseeded Valentin Royer in the first round of the 2026 Australian Open on Tuesday. Fritz won the match 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in just over three hours.
Overall, the American dominated the key stats aces (24), first serve percentage (69%), win percentage on first serve (82%). He hit a staggering 65 winners, won a total of 143 points, and broke the Frenchman’s serve six times in 21 attempts to make his way through to the second round.
After the match, Fritz addressed a press conference where a journalist asked him about a freak incident from 2024, when he had traveled to London alongside his girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, to train for the Nitto ATP Finals.
“It was 2024. I went to London to do a training week before the World Tour finals because it’s not long enough to go back to the U.S. and get an Airbnb. And I think it was because I booked the Airbnb at the last second. I think when it’s through those like agencies, they have a clean agency that comes in, like people, the code to the door, gets given out because people have to come in,” Fritz said.
“But obviously, whoever’s in charge, like the agent of the place that puts on Airbnb, changes the codes and stuff. But someone pulled up at, like, I don’t even know, two, three a.m., being super loud outside and woke us up. And then they were trying to enter the code. So I think someone thought no one was there because, as I said, I booked it at the last second,” he added.
“And someone who probably worked on the cleaning team or something probably gave them the code. And it was, I think, an organized break-in, and luckily, the code was changed. But I was sitting at the door holding my racket. I mean, realistically, I think people made fun of that. But realistically, if I hit someone with a racket, that’s going to do some damage,” Fritz concluded.
Taylor Fritz Reflects on How He Regrouped Himself During R1 of the Australian Open 2026
Fritz began the press conference by reflecting on how he regrouped physically and mentally after losing the second set. While the 28-year-old appreciated Royer for upping the ante in the second set, he said being calm and relaxed helped him dominate the final two sets of the match.
“I think he played a very good game, hit some good shots when he broke me for the set. So kind of just is what it is. But for whatever reason, when I came out for the third, I was just much calmer and relaxed. And my mind was just working a lot more clearly,” Fritz said.
“And I felt like just my decision-making was so much better. Like, I just knew I knew what shots to hit. I wasn’t like going over in my head what I should do as I’m hitting a shot. Like I was in the first two sets. I just felt very calm and confident. And I feel like I, you know, really felt like myself the last two sets,” he added.
Fritz will next take on Vit Kopriva in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
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