WASHINGTON — World number 10 Taylor Fritz held off 19-year-old Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 to claim his first ATP title of 2026 in the rain-delayed final at Washington.
Fritz, seeded third in the 500-level hard court tournament, needed five match points to subdue the 24th-ranked teen and capture his 11th title, and his first since Eastbourne last year.
After seizing control in the first-set tiebreaker, Fritz roared to a 3-0 lead with a pair of service breaks in the second.
He gave back a break in the fourth game with a double fault on break point, and Jodar climbed out of a 0-30 hole to hold serve and narrow the gap to 3-2.
Fritz, who was playing his third final of the season, collapsed to the court when it was done before rising to salute the crowd.
“It was just relief, like thank God, I got it done,” Fritz said of his reaction to sealing the win. “It wasn’t so much as like a celebration, just thank God I’m done. I can just lay down for a second.”
Fritz said wind contributed to errors from both players in the tight first set.
“It was very windy in the beginning. I felt like it was very hard to control the ball,” he said according to AFP.
“There was a lot of errors and mistakes early on, but I did a great job of just serving well the whole first set.
“Even though I maybe wasn’t playing amazing, I still was holding and being in the match.
“I felt like I reeled it together really nicely in the tiebreaker. It was one of the better tiebreakers I have played in a while.
“I think I made all my first serves and put returns in the court. Just a very, very good breaker.
“Then I followed up, I played two very good return games to start the second set. That gave me the lead that I needed that I could hold onto for the match.”
