Munar defeats Fritz in Tokyo

Fernando Murciego - 1 Oct 2026 | 07:18
ATP jaume Munar Taylor Fritz ATP Tokio 2026

The Spaniard comes back from a challenging set against the American and confirms that he is now ready to compete with the best. Third victory of the season against a top 20 player in the world.

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Jaume Munar defeats Taylor Fritz at the ATP Tokyo 2026. Source: Getty

Jaume Munar no needs anyone to explain to him how to play against the best. He is learning it himself through victories. The Spaniard, coming from the qualifying rounds, made one of the biggest surprises of the first round of the ATP Tokyo 2026 by defeating Taylor Fritz 6-7, 6-4, and 6-3.

And he did it in style, coming back and shining in a match where he could well have won in two sets. Today, Munar not only held his ground against Fritz, but for many stretches, he was the player in control, the one who found more solutions, and the one who believed before his opponent that victory was possible. A triumph without any kind of trick or condition, a further demonstration that Spanish tennis is in the midst of conquering the men's circuit.

For Fritz, the defeat has significant consequences. The American was defending the final he reached last year in Tokyo, so these lost points will mean we see him outside the top 10 for some days. Beyond the ranking, his sporting moment is also not favorable. Fritz arrived from a Laver Cup to forget, where he lost all the matches he played, and before that, he had already left a worrying image at the US Open, crashing in the third round embarrassingly against Francisco Cerúndolo. Tokyo was supposed to be an opportunity to regain sensations, but he is leaving early with Munar securing a ticket to the round of sixteen.

The aftershock of the Laver Cup starts to take its toll

The day was not particularly kind to those who landed in Tokyo directly from the Laver Cup. Fritz, Ruud, Nakashima, and Fery have exited in the first round, while other names will still have to prove if they can shake off the physical and emotional toll from London. It may be too early to talk about a trend, but the data is starting to attract attention.

But let’s talk more about Munar, a man who is earning his place in the conversation in every tournament he plays. This is already his third victory of the year against a top 20 player, a statistic that reflects how much he has grown in his ability to compete against the elite. Especially on hard courts, the surface on which his evolution over the last two years has been evident. That player historically associated more with clay is increasingly having the arguments to contest matches on fast surfaces.

Now he will have a peculiar reward, a Hispano-Portuguese duel against Jaime Faria. The Portuguese overcame Arthur Fery (6-4, 3-6, 6-4) and will be the next obstacle for the Balearic in Tokyo. Jaume has already knocked out the number three seed; now it remains to see if this time he can confirm that he hasn’t come to Tokyo just to cause a surprise but for something more.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Munar tumba a Fritz en Tokio