Taylor Fritz vs Jack Sock Prediction: Will Taylor again defeat Jack?

After a setback in Melbourne, Taylor Fritz begins his quest for a title in Dallas, where the American is the tournament's top-ranked player. Fritz's first opponent will be his compatriot, Jack Sock, the 141st-ranked player in the world. The boys know each other very well, they have played seven times on the tour, and the edge is on Sock's side.

Taylor started the season by playing for the national team at the United Cup. Fritz brought his team four points out of a possible five, losing only to Norrie in three sets but beating Lehecka, Zverev, Hurkacz, and Berrettini. As a reminder, the USA national team won that tournament, beating Italy in the final. In Melbourne, however, Taylor did not fare well as Fritz beat the Georgian Basilashvili in the first round but was weaker than Popyrin in the second round, losing to the Australian in five games. Taylor had not competed at the official level since 19 January.

For Sock, the upcoming match will only be his third in 2023. Jack lost to compatriot Mikkelsen at the Cleveland tournament, and here in Dallas, he was stronger than Ivashka in the first round. The match lasted three hours and four minutes. Jack won it 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. During the match, Sock got nine aces, ten double faults, and won 75% of points on first serve and 38% on second serve. Overall, let's note that Jack had a pretty good match; he needs to reduce the number of double faults.

Sock had a good quality match against Ivashka, but there is clearly a noticeable difference in class between the guys. Indirectly confirmed by the result of the last match between Fritz and Sock, played exactly one year ago at the same stage in Dallas as the upcoming game. In that game, Jack only managed to take five games from Taylor, and since then, Fritz has become weaker, and Sock did not remember anything special for a year. Fritz will repeat the success of the last tournament in Texas and get a confident win over his compatriot. Here are the odds:

• W1 + TU (21.5) for 1.97;
• Handicap 1 (-4.5) for 2.00.