Seven aces in a lost set, twenty in the match: Fritz outlasts Bonzi 2-1 in Paris

Seven aces in a set he lost, twenty in a match he won. Taylor Fritz's 2-1 over Benjamin Bonzi in Paris came down to one sequence: five of the six break points Bonzi manufactured were answered, and a dropped opening set turned into a Round of 64 escape.

Bonzi earned that opener 6-3 on the margins. He served 3 aces to Fritz's 7, still won the return exchange 11 points to 7, created four break points, converted one and faced none on his own serve. Fritz kept stacking free points and never found the door to use them.

The turn came fast. Fritz's only double fault of the match landed in set one; not one came after. He won 22 service points in the second set against Bonzi's 14, converted his break chance and saved the lone one he faced: 6-3. The third repeated the recipe — one break taken, one held — for 6-4, with 5 aces to 3 in the decider. Bonzi's serve cracked once in each of the last two sets and saved nothing either time.

The ledger is narrow and brutal. Total points went 84-77 and games 15-13, yet Fritz banked 47 first-serve points to 36 while landing 70% of first serves against Bonzi's 58%. Bonzi even took the return battle, 25 points to 22. What he never took was a save: 0 for 2 on his own break defense while Fritz held firm five times in six.

Bonzi played the exchanges well enough to win. Fritz only needed the racket to speak on six occasions — and it spoke five times.