2023 Daily Notebook – Saturday

A breakdown of our two singles finalists:

• One American (Taylor Fritz)
• Two seeds (No. 1 Taylor Fritz, No. 4 Miomir Kecmanovic)
• Two countries represented (Fritz – US; Kecmanovic – Serbia)
• Head-to-Head: Fritz leads 2-1 (Fritz, Atlanta, 2019 and Indian Wells, 2022; Kecmanovic, Miami, 2022 )
• Ages: Fritz-25, Kecmanovic-23
• Rankings: Fritz-7, Kecmanovic-33
• Aces this week: Fritz-28; Kecmanovic-19
• Fastest serve this week: Fritz-144 mph; Kecmanovic-131 mph

2) Delray Beach Open Finals Stats

• An American is in the DBO final for the eighth time in the last nine years.
• The No. 1 seed has won the title only twice in the tournament’s 30 previous years, one of which was last year.
• Overall, No. 1 seeds are 2-5 in the final, while No. 4 seeds have the best record of seeds at 7-1.
• In six previous years the champion has won the title without dropping a set all week. Fritz could become the seventh.
• If Fritz wins he will be the tournament’s first-ever Top 10 champion at No. 7. The highest ranked player to ever win the tournament was No. 13 Cameron Norrie last year.

3) First Seed Taylor Fritz vs. Fourth Seed Miomir Kecmanovic

Fritz cracked the Top 10 for the first time last year, winning the ATP Masters 1000 in Indian Wells over Rafael Nadal, reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and won two other titles. Kecmanovic’s semifinal win yesterday marked his 100th match win on the ATP Tour. He broke through last year, reaching the Australian Open fourth round and the quarterfinals at top-level events in Indian Wells and Miami.

4) A breakdown of our four doubles finalists:

• 1 American (Reese Stalder)
• 1 seed (No. 1 Marcelo Arevalo/Jean-Julien Rojer)
• 2 former Delray Beach Open champions (Arevalo/Rojer, 2022)
• 4 colleges attended (Arevalo – Tulsa; Rojer – UCLA; Rinky Hijikata- North Carolina; Reese Stalder – Texas Christian)
• 4 countries represented (Arevalo – El Salvador; Rojer – Netherlands; Hijikata – Australia; Stalder – US)

5) Doubles Final Features Defending Champions vs. Debut Duo

There is quite a contrast in the two doubles finalists. Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer are the Delray Beach Open defending champions and went on to win the French Open three months later. RinkyHijikata and Reese Stalder are playing their first ATP Tour event together – in fact, it is Stalder’s first ATP Tour event ever. They practice together often in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where Hijikata went to school and Stalder is currently a volunteer assistant coach. Hijikata won the Australian Open doubles title just last month.

6) Only General Admission Tickets Left for Final

All reserved, Veranda and Best Seats courtside tickets are sold out for the final. The tournament is opening the General Admission Grandstands to accommodate all additional fans.

Celebrating 25 Years in Delray Beach

“Tennis on the Ave”

In 2010, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi shut down the busiest section of 1st Avenue during happy hour, threw a net across the street and started playing tennis. Easily a thousand people jammed the area to get a look, even on rooftops. We did it again the following year with Mac and Mats Wilander, and restaurants in the area sold special seating for the show.

Read the ATP Tour’s daily wrap-up story here https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-mcdonald-kecmanovic-albot-delray-beach-2023-sf