‘Potential Stress Fracture’ – Taylor Fritz Gives Update on His Ankle Ahead of ATP Miami Open 2022

Taylor Fritz has been the talk of the town since his title win at the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells. However, it was not just about the trophy. The win became even more special for Fritz, as he went on to break Nadal’s winning streak by beating him in the finals. Even though he won the title, it was in doubt sometime before the finals. Hours before the finals, a piece of news surfaced from Fritz’s camp, saying that he might have to withdraw from the finals, after suffering an ankle injury.

However, not willing to let go of his maiden Masters 1000 finals, Fritz somehow managed to not only recover from the injury but also win the finals. Following his win, World N0. 13 is now in Miami, where he is eyeing his second Masters 1000 title. Even though he will be starting his Miami campaign from the second round, what has already come to light is his pre-tournament press conference.

During his press conference, the American gave an update about his ankle, hoping to not experience the pain again.

What happened after the Indian Wells finals?

Talking to the media at the pre-tournament press conference, Fritz confessed that he has gotten an MRI done of his ankle. He further went on elaborating on what the situation was like before the finals. He asserted that his whole team was worried about a potential stress fracture.

“The MRI was really positive or else I wouldn’t be here. We were worried about a lot of things before the final because obviously the doctors at the tournament inspected it, physios inspected it. We were worried about a potential stress fracture. I don’t know the actual name of the bone, but one of the back bones in the ankle. A couple of other things we were worried about,” he said.

The 24-year-old first experienced ankle pain during his semifinal clash with Andrey Rublev. He did call a physio in the next changeover during the second set. However, winning the match, he didn’t get any therapy done on-court. However, the pain worsened during his practice session the very next morning (the morning of finals). As per reports, the pain became so bad that Taylor had to cut short his practice session.

Recalling the scenario, Taylor said, “Luckily the end result of the MRI, I don’t know all the technical terms, I wish my physio was here to explain it, the way I pinched my ankle in the semis, it got extremely inflamed, a lot of fluid filled up in the joint. It made it almost impossible for me to move it in certain ways and push off because it was just so inflamed and full of, like, fluid.”

The current state of Taylor Fritz

Explaining further, Fritz asserted that right now he feels fine. But he cannot be 100% sure till the time he hits the court. He went on to compare his current situation with that of the practice session the day after his semifinal win.

“The process now is just trying to get the inflammation down. I’ll have a hit. It feels right now a lot like it felt before the finals, where I can walk and I think it’s fine. The day of the final match I wasn’t really sure how I was going to feel until I actually stepped on the warmup court. I took a hard push-off step that I didn’t think I was going to be able to play.”

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The 2022 Indian Wells champion ended by saying, “That’s kind of how it feels right now. I’ll see if that’s the same case when I go on the court to practice. I’m hoping that it’s not, that it will feel a little better. Definitely still not there yet.”

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On the tennis front, after winning the Indian Wells, Fritz has now entered the Miami Open. Having a ranking raise, Fritz has entered the Miami draw as the 11th seeded player. Getting a first-round bye, Fritz is scheduled to kick off his Miami campaign with a second-round clash against Mikhail Kukushkin.