Taylor Fritz 'remains a mystery' to tennis journalist as lack of big results continues despite exemplary professionalism and work ethic

According to tennis journalist Jon Wertheim, Taylor Fritz has failed to achieve big results at big events.

Fritz most recently crashed out of the Swiss Indoors, Basel, with a loss to unseeded Alexander Shevchenko from Russia. The hard-fought contest on Thursday, October 26, saw three tiebreaks.

Unfortunately, Fritz finished on the wrong end of the three-setter despite hitting a staggering 22 aces over the course of two hours and 53 minutes.

The American has won two titles, the Delray Beach Open and Atlanta Open, since the start of the year. He began the year with a second-round exit at the Australian Open and finished as a semifinalist at the Dallas Open in February before winning the ATP 250 tournament at Delray Beach, Florida.

The Mexican Open brought another final-four finish for the American, courtesy of a loss to compatriot Tommy Paul. In the following two tournaments, the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Open, he advanced to the quarterfinals. In April, he finished as a semifinalist at the Monte Carlo Masters and Bavarian International Tennis Championships.

The Madrid Open and Italian Open witnessed a dip in the 25-year-old's performance graph as he failed to reach the quarterfinals at both events. He then traveled to Geneva only to return as a semifinalist before a third-round exit at the French Open.

After a flurry of unsuccessful campaigns at the Stuttgart Open, Queen's Club Championships, Eastbourne International, and Wimbledon, Fritz won the ATP 250 trophy in Atlanta. However, he failed to carry on with the winning momentum.

Trophies eluded the World No. 9 at the Citi Open (semifinalist), Canadian Open, Cincinnati Masters (quarterfinalist), and US Open (quarterfinalist). This month, he faced early exits at the Shanghai Masters and Japan Open.

Jon Wertheim has now weighed in on Fritz's bittersweet season in an interview with Sports Illustrated saying:

"Taylor Fritz remains a mystery. The game is there. The work ethic is there. The professionalism is there. The big results in the big events still prove elusive. But we’re still holders, if not buyers."

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Taylor Fritz has not dropped out of Top 10 in ATP rankings after first week of November 2022

Taylor Fritz in action: 2023 Shanghai Rolex Masters

Taylor Fritz secured the ninth spot in the ATP's ranking, released on November 7, 2022. He continued as the World No. 9 for twelve weeks straight until January 30, 2023.

The American moved one spot up as soon as the Australian Open concluded and remained in eighth place two weeks before becoming the World No. 7 on February 13.

Fritz then achieved his career-high ranking of World No. 5 on February 27. He, however, quickly slipped to the tenth spot in the tally released on March 20. He continued as World No. 10 for five weeks.

Taylor Fritz then exchanged positions between the eighth and ninth spots in the world rankings before slipping to the tenth place on October 16. He is currently the World No. 9.