Taylor Fritz hitting his stride on clay thanks to "more variety in my game"

After losing his European clay-court opener in Monte Carlo, Taylor Fritz has since won five of his last six matches.

On Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, the No. 12 seed dispatched a competitor with a pair of 2024 trophies to his name. Fritz maintained his perfect head-to-head record with Sebastian Baez by knocking off the 18th seed, 6-2, 6-3, in the pair’s first meeting away from hard courts.

The American has now won all 10 sets he’s played against Baez, who entered the contest at 15-4 on red dirt this season. Fritz fired 11 aces and did not face a break point during the 65-minute victory, as he looks to continue building off his runner-up showing in Munich.

"I think there's more variety in my game in general. In my last match in the second round, that was really on display,” Fritz told ATP Media afterwards. “I was drop-shotting, I was moon-balling, I was doing a bit of everything. I feel like I've had that. I just never really used it as much as normal. Cause on hard court, I have better shots I can hit in those situations.

“I feel like I’m almost playing a different way on clay every year… it’s kind of just finding out what stuff works for you.”

With the win, Fritz set up a fourth-round clash with No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz. The Pole, this year’s Estoril champion, defeated Daniel Altmaier, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Tommy Paul however, was unable to join Fritz in getting the better of an Argentinean opponent.

Francisco Cerundolo, the No. 21 seed, took down the 15th-seeded Paul, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2, to notch his first Top 30 win in five attempts this year. All five of their showdowns have now gone the distance, with Cerundolo edging ahead 3-2.

The 25-year-old awaits the winner of a late-night clash between former champion Alexander Zverev and left-hander Denis Shapovalov.