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Ranked 303rd in the world, the 24-year-old Holt was awarded a
qualifying wild card at Flushing Meadows and was making his
Tour-level debut against Fritz, the highest-ranked American, at
12th.
Holt, who turned professional in 2020, was not even sure if he
could continue playing tennis when he needed career-threatening
surgery on his hand last year.
He did not play for the rest of 2021 and only returned to action
at the feeder International Tennis Federation circuit in Cancun,
Mexico, in January.
"I started the year ranked like 900-something after having an
injury in my hand. I was out for like eight months. I basically
had to start from scratch down there," Holt told reporters.
"I did well my first three tournaments back. I won all three of
them in a row after a long time off, a lot of hard work
recovering. Yeah, from there to here has been a very quick
upward tick. Hopefully, I can keep it going."
For a place in the third round of the hardcourt Grand Slam, Holt
will next play Argentine Pedro Cachin, who edged Slovenia's
Aljaz Bedene 6-4 6-3 5-7 1-6 7-6(10-6) in a final set
tiebreaker.
Holt said he did not exactly remember the advice he received
before the match from his mother, who won the U.S. Open in 1979
and 1981.
"I don't know what she said. Probably just 'go have fun'. The
same stuff, 'enjoy it'," Holt added.
"And I did. I found myself in some difficult situations, maybe I
didn't play quite as well as I could have in certain times, but
then I played very well in other times.
"That's tennis. Things are going to be up and down. Sometimes it
was down, sometimes it was up. At the end of the day, it fell my
way so I couldn't be happier."
For Fritz, it was a heartbreaking defeat at his home major, more
so after his Wimbledon quarter-final run when he went down to
Rafa Nadal in a final-set tiebreaker.
"It sucks. I mean, feels awful," Fritz said.
"Been playing really well. Had really high hopes. I feel like an
idiot for thinking that I could win this thing, win the U.S.
Open. I can't go out and play a match like that. It sucks. I
feel awful."
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Robert
Birsel)
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