NEW YORK, September 2, 2026– Winning your opening match at Flushing Meadows is rarely about producing highlights for the evening newsreel. Most of the time, it’s about staying disciplined, getting off the hard courts fast, and avoiding the kind of early-round trap that catches top seeds looking past their opponents.
But Taylor Fritz had the assignment down to a T on Tuesday afternoon.
The 2024 finalist and ninth seed made quick work of 18-year-old fellow American Darwin Blanch, beating him in straight sets: 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The whole thing was done in just an hour and 40 minutes.
Truthfully, it was clear after the middle of the first set just how much more tournament experience Fritz has than his opponent.
Blanch, the 6-foot-4 left-handed wildcard who gained his entry through winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship in Kalamazoo earlier this month, came out swinging with a vengeance. The kid hit a 137-mph serve early in the first set and backed it up with an ace.
The issue? It is a completely different ball game to do so against the top-ranked American in the game.
Blanch was leading at 2-2 in the first set when he made a mistake by hitting two double faults, thus giving Fritz the vital break of serve. This was all that Fritz required. He took the break of serve and won the first set 6-3 in half an hour.
“It’s never easy to come out and play another young American,” Fritz noted post-match, giving a candid breakdown of how things unfolded on court. “He gave me a lot of opportunities with some doubles, with some second serves.”
It may seem tough on the kid, but he had stats to support that statement. As much as Blanch had potential with good hands at the net and a strong forehand, his serve would always crumble under pressure. The youngster committed nine double faults and one ace in his game. On the other hand, Fritz had 14 aces, just one double fault, and won 91% of the points with first serves.
This trend continued as he took the second set just as quickly. In the fifth game of the second set, Fritz won on his fourth break point. He broke Blanch once more in the seventh game with increasing numbers of unforced errors from the youngster, who managed 33 in total.
Did Fritz catch any closing-out jitters in the third set? Not a chance.
In the second game of the third set, when Blanch created his only two chances of break points in the match, Fritz played like a seasoned pro. He neutralized the first by hitting an unreturnable ace and dismissed the second with a devastating backhand winner down the line, cruising to a 6-4 victory.
With this win, Fritz will play the second round of the 2026 US Open against either Mattia Bellucci of Italy or Zsombor Piros of Hungary. For the 28-year-old California boy, the mission for the first week is straightforward: keep serving well, limit the mistakes and stay out of the heat of New York for as long as possible.
