Vienna Open 2022: Taylor Fritz vs. Denis Shapovalov Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Vienna Open as Taylor Fritz takes on Denis Shapovalov in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, October 26th, 2022.

Will Taylor Fritz get the win? Will Denis Shapovalov pull off the upset? This will be a fascinating one, where we have a rematch from Tokyo with two of the biggest hitters on the ATP Tour facing off. Who will triumph and move through to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Vienna Open?

Taylor Fritz took down Nishioka in a thriller of a match, saving a matchpoint and somehow fighting back in 3 in a very tough match. While he didn’t look amazing there, Fritz is coming off a title run in Tokyo and that was his debut match as a top 10 player. As he settles into the conditions, I expect little issues here against Denis Shapovalov as the two face off for a place in the last eight of the 2022 Vienna Open.

Denis Shapovalov got a 6-4 6-4 win over local wild card Misolic to set up a real tough match for both players where they’ll have a rematch of their epic clash just recently. While Shapovalov will have his chances, I wasn’t overly impressed with his first match, and I think Fritz is just a far more reliable player, so I’d have to back the American to serve big and play his first strike tennis better than Shapovalov can here at the 2022 Vienna Open.

Taylor Fritz and Denis Shapovalov have met six times before, with Denis Shapovalov leading the head to head 4-2. While Shapovalov does lead their head to head, he was able to snag quite a few early wins against a young Fritz, the American has now won 2 of their last 3 meetings, and coming off their match in Tokyo, with the success Fritz has been having, I expect him to make something special happen here as he looks ahead to the quarterfinals at the 2022 Vienna Open.