Taylor Fritz beats Darwin Blanch in straight sets at 2026 US Open

Taylor Fritz did not linger on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No. 9 seed used a heavy first serve and a short afternoon to beat 18-year-old American wildcard Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the 2026 US Open, moving into the second round in about an hour and 40 minutes.

Fritz, a US Open finalist in 2024, struck 14 aces and did not drop serve. Blanch, playing his first main-draw match at Flushing Meadows, managed one ace and nine double faults. The gap in experience showed from the middle of the first set onward.

Serve takes over on Ashe

Taylor Fritz put 74 percent of his first serves in play and won 91 percent of those points. He lost only one first-serve point in the opening set and broke Darwin Blanch in the sixth game for 6-3.

The second set slipped away faster. Fritz converted his fourth break point in the fifth game, then broke again in the seventh as unforced errors stacked up on the teenager. Blanch saved 12 of 16 break points, but he never found a look on Fritz’s serve. Fritz saved both break points he faced all match.

"It's never easy to come out and play another young American," Fritz said. "He gave me a lot of opportunities with some doubles, with some second serves."

That was his own verdict on the return game. He did not need it to be sharp. When Blanch sent another ball past the baseline on break point to open the third set, Fritz stepped on the gas. An ace and a firm backhand erased the only two break points he saw in the next game. An unreturnable serve closed the match.

Teen wildcard meets a different level

Darwin Blanch earned the wildcard by winning the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championship. He is 18, ranked around No. 245, and still building a hard-court record on the main tour. Earlier this year in Miami, he became the youngest American to win a match at that event since Fritz did it a decade ago. Tuesday was a steeper test.

He won none of 14 return games and never broke. The Ashe crowd still had a home story to follow, just not a contest that stayed close. Fritz’s first-strike tennis left little room for a debutant to settle.

Taylor Fritz stays on track in New York

The Californian arrived with mixed form. He won the title in Washington, then lost his opener in Montreal. None of that showed on Tuesday. He looked at home on the same court where he reached the final two years ago.

The win adds to a strong start for American men in New York. Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton both came through on Monday night. Fritz is next up against either Italy’s Mattia Bellucci or Hungary’s Zsombor Piros.

For Fritz, the job in week one is simple: keep the serve landing and keep the matches short. He did both. The serve that carried him through Ashe on Tuesday is still the shot that will decide how far this US Open run goes.