Paris, May 24 - Seventh seed Taylor Fritz was eliminated in the first round of the French Open by fellow American Nishesh Basavareddy, 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1. The 21-year-old wildcard, ranked 148th in the world, showed remarkable composure on his Roland Garros main draw debut.
Fritz, 28, returned to action last week in Geneva after a two-month layoff due to a chronic knee injury. He appeared rusty under the afternoon sun on Court Suzanne Lenglen. After dropping the first two sets in tiebreaks, Fritz saved a match point to win the third before Basavareddy dominated the fourth.
"I'm super happy to get through that after losing that third set," Basavareddy said. "All the players play their best in these tournaments and for me to do that today means the world."
Basavareddy now faces either Alexander Shevchenko or Alex Michelsen in the second round.