Taylor Fritz and Rafael Jodar produced a brilliant Washington Open final, which eventually went the way of the American in straight sets.

The pair were forced to wait until Monday to play their final after a storm hit Washington on the Sunday, but they didn’t disappoint in the United States capital.

Fritz eventually won the tight contest 7-6, 6-4 to claim his first ATP title of the year, and 11th in total.

However, there was some controversy during the match as Jodar decided to take a medical timeout with the match at 7-6, 5-4, with Fritz just about to serve for the set and the match.

Fritz was noticeably annoyed by the Spaniard’s decision and the American’s coach, Michael Russell, could be seen mouthing ‘absolute bulls***’ during the moment.

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While Jodar did look to suffer a legitimate injury in the match, where he fell on his wrist, and it could potentially keep him out of action going forward, players should categorically not be allowed to take an MTO while a player is serving for the match.

It’s a dangerous move, which could be used by players as gamemanship, and it should absolutely be stamped out by the ATP Tour moving forward.

Jodar had already taken a break during the match to sort out his shoelaces, which conveniently landed when Fritz has just broken him in the second set.

While we will not know if Jodar was trying to put Fritz off, or give him more time to think about closing the match, it’s a loophole that should be closed.

The tactic almost worked for Jodar too, as he took Fritz to deuce in the deciding game. The Spaniard saved several match points before Fritz was able to close the match out.

Fritz’s Washington Open victory was the 11th title of the American’s career and it stopped a four match losing streak in ATP Tour finals.

He had previously lost finals in Tokyo, Dallas, Stuttgart, and Halle in a row before claiming the title in Washington.

It was also Fritz’s first ATP 500 tournament title since 2022, when he lifted the Japan Open. In that time Fritz had claimed six ATP 250 events, but his run at 500 events was quite barren.

Despite his victory at the Washington Open, Fritz still only sits at world No 8 in the ATP Tour rankings. However, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic sit just above the American and they could be toppled with a good performance at the Canadian Open.

As for Rafael Jodar, the Spaniard sits at world No 15, which is a career ranking high.