Taylor Fritz clinches semi-final spot after 3-set battle
Fans were treated to a Nitto ATP Finals classic as Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur valiantly battled for a place in the semi-finals.
This afternoon, fans were treated to the first three-set match of the tournament, as Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur valiantly battled for a place in the semi-finals.
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It was the last match in the group stage of the Nitto ATP Finals, eventually won by Fritz in a
fabulous comeback, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a battle lasted two hours and eight minutes.
The first set alone took 47 minutes, won by de Minaur, after Fritz struggled with his opponent’s speed and their deep baseline exhanges.
But he eventually found his service rhythm in the second set, and thereafter fought his way back into the match.
Few key moments
De Minaur acknowledged during his post-match press conference that it was a high level match that was decided by a few key moments.
“The match changed from that second set. I think it was all up. I played two bad games on serve which led to both breaks”.
When asked for his reflections after the match, Fritz agreed that he was outplayed in many moments throughout the match, but eventually found a way to stay in and capitalise on the holds.
“I kind of started to find the rhythm on the serve at the end of the second. I think from the end of the second I served really well for the rest of the match”.
The American’s semi-final opponent was dependent on the results of the next match.
Asked about the likely match-up with Alexander Zverev, Fritz felt it would be close, despite the fact that he led their last three head-to-heads.
“I don’t think it’s ever really been one-sided between us. I’ve been able to take the last three. It’s not like it was, I guess, easy, an easy three matches or anything like that. I think our games match up
well.
“Whoever does certain things better on the day wins. When you have two guys that are big servers playing each other, it can always just come down to a couple points here and there”.
Taylor Fritz is the first American player to finish the season in the top 5 since James Blake in 2006.
Amisha Savani is reporting exclusively for The South African from the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin