Taylor Fritz outclasses teenager Rafael Jodar to claim ATP Washington title

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fritz-taylor/UH09iaZ6/"]Fritz[/a], 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.[/p][p]After seizing control in the first-set tiebreaker, Fritz roared to a 3-0 lead with a pair of service breaks in the second.[/p][embed guid="c513ff4d-1d36-4ae9-a531-bdaeea9462ea" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2084370971985625248" social-type="twitter" /][p]He gave back a break in the fourth game with a double fault on break point, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jodar-rafael/OdngshVK/"]Jodar[/a] climbed out of a 0-30 hole to hold serve and narrow the gap to 3-2.[/p][p]But Jodar couldn't find another break. He held for 5-4 to force Fritz to serve it out, the American's chance delayed just slightly as Jodar had treatment on his left wrist after taking a tumble in the ninth game.[/p][p]The final game was a slugfest. Fritz squandered a pair of match points at 40-15 and gave himself another with a booming forehand.[/p][p]Jodar fought off two more match points before earning a break point that Fritz saved with another forehand winner.[/p][p]Fritz finally got the job done after one hour and 49 minutes, Jodar misfiring on a pair of forehands to bring it to a close.[/p][embed guid="16416e32-5d93-46df-aa0b-7ea75592d0d6" url="https://x.com/TennisTV/status/2084372747170296044" social-type="twitter" /][p]Fritz, who was playing his third final of the season, collapsed to the court when it was done before rising to salute the crowd.[/p][p]The contest was postponed from Sunday after heavy rain halted the WTA final between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eala-alexandra/ppu9X7PH/"]Alexandra Eala[/a].[/p][p]Jodar missed out on a second ATP title, after winning in Morocco in April. But by reaching the final he's assured of reaching a career-high 15th in the rankings.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/fritz-t-UH09iaZ6/jodar-r-OdngshVK/?mid=61M0PUfR"]Check out the match stats here[/a][/b].[/p]