Taylor Fritz rattled off the names of various opponents: Jack Sock. John Isner. Stan Wawrinka. Gilles Müller.
Fritz, 19, could have listed more names, but those provided a sampling of the players who had prevented him from fulfilling an elusive goal that had grown into a bit of a burden: winning a main-draw match at a Grand Slam tournament.
On Wednesday, Fritz finally broke through, zipping a backhand winner to complete a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win against the veteran Marcos Baghdatis in the first round of the United States Open.
“It just felt so good,” said Fritz, a Californian who will face Dominic Thiem, the No.