The National Times - Fritz fires warning with Australian Open demolition job

The world number four wasted little energy to swat aside Jenson Brooksby, who is on the way back from a doping suspension, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 on John Cain Arena.

He will next play either Croat Borna Coric or Chile's Cristian Garin.

"I'm super happy with how the match went today," said Fritz, who made the quarter-finals last year and is fresh from helping the United States win the lead-up United Cup.

"It's never easy playing that first match in a Slam, there are some nerves, so I did a really good job shaking them off early and playing really solid.

"I work really hard and I think a lot of that is shown in how I have been able to keep making improvements in the later stages of my career," he added.

Fritz came out of the blocks strongly on a warm day, breaking for 4-2 and again to wrap up the opening set in just 28 minutes.

His baseline game was far superior and he dominated the rallies, earning a double break for 4-0 in the second set.

There was no way back for a flailing Brooksby, who was contesting his first event at any level since the 2023 Australian Open.

Brooksby had surgery on both wrists in 2023 and subsequently served a 13-month doping ban for missing three tests over a 12-month period.

Fritz powered into the US Open final last year, losing to top-ranked Jannik Sinner, but it has been more than two decades since an American man made the decider in Australia.

That was Andre Agassi, when he won the title in 2003 to become the ninth American in the open era to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

Fritz is shaping as their best hope in years to rewrite the record books, with the 27-year-old also making the title match at the ATP Finals in 2024, again losing to Sinner.

W.Baxter--TNT