Taylor Fritz Triumphs at Eastbourne International for the Third Time
The American becomes the first player to achieve this feat in Eastbourne.
Taylor Fritz of the United States, 26, defeated Max Purcell of Australia, 26, to win the Men’s Singles title at the 2024 Eastbourne International in Eastbourne, United Kingdom (an ATP 250 event). The score in the final was 6-4 and 6-3 in favor of Fritz.
This was the second match Fritz and Purcell have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with Fritz winning their prior meeting. Today’s victory was the second title Fritz has won on the 2024 ATP Tour and the eighth title of his career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the third time he has claimed the title in Eastbourne - previously winning in 2019 and 2022. Every title he has claimed from a grass court event has come from this tournament. He is now the only player to win in Eastbourne three times since the competition joined the tour in 2009.
Heading into this tournament, Fritz was ranked as the Number 13 tennis player on the 2024 ATP Tour, while Purcell carried the Number 94 designation. By winning in Eastbourne, Fritz has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Purcell has picked up 165 points.
Francisco Cerúndolo of Argentina (No. 27) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, he lost against Marcos Giron of the United States (No. 46) in the first round. Meanwhile, Fritz was the event’s first seed and Purcell entered the main draw after first winning during the qualifying rounds. The competition allowed the Top 4 seeds to advance directly to the second round.
Fritz arrived in the final after winning against Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil (No. 74), Shang Juncheng of China (No. 104), and Aleksandar Vukic of Australia (No. 81). Notably, he didn’t play against another seeded player throughout the competition.
In the other half of the main draw, Purcell defeated Jan Choinski of the United Kingdom (No. 174), Henry Searle of the United Kingdom (No. 568), Laslo Djere of Serbia (No. 52), Lorenzo Sonego of Italy (No. 57), Miomir Kecmanović of Serbia (No. 53), and Billy Harris of the United Kingdom (No. 139). He too didn’t face a seeded player until the final.
The revised rankings for the 2024 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, July 1. The tour will then play one tournament between July 1 and 14: Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom (a Grand Slam event). The competition will be played on grass courts.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (No. 3) is the reigning champion at Wimbledon. He is looking to defend the title as the event’s third seed this year - facing Mark Lajal of Estonia (No. 262) in the first round. Meanwhile, Fritz is the 13th seed and Purcell has received an unseeded slot. In the first round, Fritz will battle Christopher O’Connell of Australia (No. 76) and Purcell will compete against Otto Virtanen of Finland (No. 149).