In the battle between two hard hitting American tennis players, the victory would go to the one who was able to shake off the disappointments and regain his focus faster. What is the objective of any tennis player when they step on court? Win the match, but also be willing to adapt psychologically and spiritually when obstacles arise.

Marcos Giron Adapted Better In The End

I really got to watch this guy play yesterday.  Like I studied his game. What I noticed was his demeanor. He does not get easily rattled. He pays no attention to the score and has the uncanny ability to focus on the point he is playing. When the chips are down he does not back off his game, he plays with even more confidence and belief in his game.

Embed from Getty Images

Taylor Fritz Should Have Won The Match

You know when a player is rattled, you can sense it as a spectator. Perhaps the opponent is also able to sense it. Although, most players try to focus on their game, sometimes their opponent’s discomfort reaches across the net. Fritz was clearly rattled. He could not put Giron away. He also was being tested physically with some long rallies. In contrast, Giron looked like he could run a marathon afterwards. The sturdy legs of Giron translates into his powerful ground strokes and despite bilateral hip surgeries in 2016, he is a quite agile around the court.

Giron Won The Match Because He Believed

It is no mystery. If you believe, then all the forces in the universe will conspire to make that a reality. The same is true if you believe you won’t. Does any player ever step on court not believing? I think so, you see that often with the lower ranked players. [19] Taylor Fritz is at a career high ranking currently; he should have believed.

In his one encounter against Giron in 2021, there was no competition, Fritz dominated in a 6-2, 6-2, straight sets victory. That was not the case yesterday. Giron took the first set but could not close it out in straight sets. Fritz is no pushover though, and he fought back to even the match. All the momentum was clearly on his side; yet, he could not capitalize.

Embed from Getty Images

Fritz was frazzled, his two favorite shots abandoned him when he needed them most. Serving at 5-4 up, he sent a forehand long. [70] Marcos Giron, calmly evened the match again. It is only fitting it went to a tiebreaker. Giron took the early mini-break with a drop shot, but Fritz got back on serve with a forehand cross-court winner. Unfortunately, he immediately sent a backhand long to go back down a mini-break and this time Giron kept applying the pressure to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3).

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES