Taylor Fritz is set to begin his campaign at the 2026 Miami Open soon. Ahead of the tournament, he revealed that he is willing to sacrifice the clay season if the ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournament does not show “big improvements.” The former world No. 4 said he is considering stepping back to fully recover from knee tendinitis, which has been affecting his performance for the past year.
Taylor Fritz Revealed Potentially Skipping Clay Season After Miami Open To Recuperate From Tendinitis
The 2026 Miami Open will take place from March 17 to March 29, 2026. The matches will be played on outdoor hard courts at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Speaking to the press before the tournament, Fritz discussed his ongoing struggle with knee tendinitis. He mentioned that he and his coach, Michael Russell, have decided that if there are no substantial improvements during the Miami Open, he will take some time away from the sport to “slow down” and fully heal his knee.
Fritz stated he is okay with missing the clay-court season to prioritize his full recovery.
“This is kind of the cut-off. We said, after Miami, if we’re not seeing big improvements, it might be time to just, like, slow down a bit on the playing and get it healed 100 percent. Because if there was a portion of the season that I think I’d be more okay missing, it would be the clay-court season, like I did last year. I think this week is going to be very telling for it. But, overall, it’s not bad,” Fritz said.
Fritz is seeded sixth at the 2026 Miami Open, and he will begin his campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. He will face the winner of the first-round match between Denis Shapovalov and Botic van de Zandschulp in his opening match.
Fritz and Shapovalov have met 11 times on the ATP Tour, with the Canadian winning six of those matches. Their most recent encounter was in the third round of the 2025 Miami Open, where Fritz secured a 7-5, 6-3 victory.
On the other hand, Fritz and van de Zandschulp have met twice, with the Dutchman winning both. Their latest match was in the semifinals of the 2023 BMW Open in Munich, where van de Zandschulp secured a 6-4, 7-6(2) win before finishing as the runner-up to Holger Rune.
The winner of the second-round match between Fritz and either Shapovalov or van de Zandschulp at the Miami Open will advance to face either 25th seed Jack Draper, Reilly Opelka, or Nuno Borges in the third round of the tournament.
