BNP Paribas Open: Taylor Fritz survives with narrow win over fellow American Ben Shelton
American Taylor Fritz survived a scare Saturday to win his first Indian Wells match as defending champion of the BNP Paribas Open.
The 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over 20-year-old American rising star Ben Shelton inside a packed Stadium 1 was in doubt until the sixth game of the third set.
After each player held serve for the first five games, Shelton saved a break point before Fritz scored the next two points to go up a break. Fritz took a 4-2 lead in the set and the two each held serve the rest of the way.
"I'm super happy with how I didn't panic under the circumstances of being down a set," Fritz said. "The guy's serving bombs, (I'm) not winning points on his serve, obviously defending champion, a lot of pressure, he's playing well. I didn't panic. I stayed calm. I changed some things around. I kind of just figured out how I wanted to play and what I needed to do to get those service breaks and get myself back into the match."
The match was the first between Fritz and Shelton, but there could be many more in the future with the way these two have played. Shelton reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and Fritz entered the draw this week as the first American ranked in the top five since Andy Roddick in 2009.
Fifth-ranked Fritz, a Rancho Santa Fe native, has now won seven consecutive matches at Indian Wells.
Fritz, 25, will face 30th-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina in the Round of 32 on Monday. Baez beat qualifier Rinky Hijikata of Australia 6-3, 6-1.
A victory Saturday would have been arguably the biggest of Shelton's career. He beat then-No. 5 Casper Ruud last year in the second round in Cincinnati. He was ranked No. 229 at the time and was a wild card entry. The win made Shelton the youngest American man since Roddick in 2001 to beat a top five player.
"He's really talented," Fritz said. "He's super dangerous if he's playing well, just with the serve and the weapons that he has."
Since beating Ruud last year, Shelton has surged up the rankings. In January at the Australian Open, he became the youngest American man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Roddick in 2002.
Saturday, he had nearly written the next page of his historic career. Instead, it's Fritz who will take a step toward another BNP Paribas Open title.
"I did expect him to come out with a very high level," Fritz said. "I think I was ready for it and I just had to regroup, find a way and problem solve. He's an incredible player. It's an extremely tough first match, so I'm happy to get through."
Andrew John covers the BNP Paribas Open for The Desert Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Taylor Fritz survives scare from Ben Shelton at Indian Wells
