Just four days after his quarter-final exit of the Washington Open, the world No.4 is back in action as the Canadian Open kicks off this week but Fritz believes the calendar has become too condensed and rules make it impossible to take a break.
The 27-year-old highlighted the rule that says players must feature in a certain number of 500 tournaments a year, meaning that if they miss a few early on through injury, they are playing catch-up for the rest of the year.
“It’s a tough time of year because there’s no week where it makes sense to take a break,” he said. “There are thousands, and to be honest, last week, and don’t get me wrong, I really like Washington and I like playing the tournament, but with how tight my schedule was on the grass court, I probably should have decided not to participate.
“But there’s a new rule that says you have to play a certain number of 500 events or they put a zero on your record. Because I was injured during the year, I missed two 500s, so I had to play in Washington to have a chance to meet my ATP 500 quota for the year.”
Fritz went on to suggest that the rule has risked him being “exhausted” come the US Open and said it has made him unable to “prioritise” his home grand slam.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s the best policy because I had an injury earlier this year and felt like a week off would have been great. A lot of the guys are prioritising the US Open and don’t want to come here, play this tournament, play in Cincinnati, and be exhausted for the US Open.
“So it’s just a matter of priorities. For me, obviously, being from North America, it’s a tournament I enjoy playing and I’m excited to be here, but I understand that for some of the Europeans, it might be a lot, and they probably want to prioritise the US Open.”
On a positive note, Fritz did suggest his forehand has improved since he was last playing in the US Open.
“I feel like between the US Open and the ATP Finals last year, I did some things to improve my forehand a little bit. It’s a lot of little specific things.
“I feel like I’m serving better this year than I was last year, definitely at the US Open. I’m hitting all my shots a little bit better, more consistently this year. I’m trying to move better. I’m not sure if I am, but I feel good. I’m always trying to improve a little bit on everything.”
