WATCH: Taylor Fritz breaks his racket over his knees in frustration after falling to compatriot Alex Michelsen in surprise loss before French Open

Taylor Fritz broke his racquet after being defeated by 19-year-old compatriot Alex Michelsen in the second round at the Geneva Open. Fritz recently reached the quarterfinal at the 2024 Italian Open.

Michelsen produced an upset to down the American No. 1 Taylor Fritz. Michelsen won the first set before Fritz claimed the second to level the match.

In the final set, the teenager got an early break to go 3-1 up. Fritz got a small respite as he broke Michelsen's serve when he was serving for the match. But Michelsen broke right back to go 6-5 up. This time he held his serve to win the match. Now the 19-year-old will face Tomas Machac in the quarterfinals.

Fritz was visibly frustrated by the shock defeat just before the French Open. He expressed his anger by breaking his racquet over his knees. However, he cordially shook Michelsen's hands and gave him a hug across the net.

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Taylor Fritz upped his clay court game this year and has had a final, semifinal, and quarterfinal appearance across five clay tournaments he played this year. The American reached the final at the BMW Open but lost to Jan-Lennard Struff. At the Madrid Open, he lost to eventual champion Andrey Rublev in the semifinals. He then lost to eventual champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals at the Italian Open.

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Taylor Fritz: "How can I ever be a top player that I want to be if I can't produce some results during the clay season?"

Fritz at the 2024 Italian Open

Taylor Fritz became the first man from the United States to reach the quarterfinals or better at every Masters 1000 clay court tournament after he defeated Grigor Dimitrov at the 2024 Italian Open. He emphasized that to be a top player he needs to have good results on clay in the press conference after the victory.

"For me, clay season's a huge part of the season. It's three Masters, some other tournaments, and a Grand Slam. How can I ever be a top player that I want to be if I can't produce some results during the clay season?" Fritz said.

The American said he is committed to playing the enter clay swing to produce better results.

"I always thought, like, if I want to be a top-10 player, I need to be putting results in on clay. I've committed to playing the full swing several years of my career," he said.

Taylor Fritz's best result at the French Open came in 2020 and 2023 when he reached the third round.