Defending champion Fritz battles into the quarter-finals
Taylor Fritz survived a stern test from Spanish rising star Martin Landaluce to book his place in the quarter-finals of the BOSS OPEN. Meanwhile, Ben Shelton’s match against fellow American Marcos Giron was suspended due to darkness and will resume on Friday.
After more than two and a half hours on court, BOSS Ambassador and defending champion Taylor Fritz finally secured a hard-fought 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(3) victory over Landaluce. The win was a significant one for the American, marking the 350th ATP Tour victory of his career.
The relief was evident on Fritz’s face after he completed the comeback. Following his opening-round defeat at the French Open two weeks ago, the 28-year-old was determined to avoid another early exit.
Facing the 20-year-old Spaniard in his opening match of the tournament after receiving a first-round bye, Fritz was under pressure from the very beginning. At 5-5 in the opening set, he fought off three break points before Landaluce edged the tie-break 7-4 with fearless shot-making.
The second set proved equally tight. Fritz earned an early break for 2-0 but immediately surrendered the advantage. The set stayed on serve until 5-5, when the American struck at exactly the right moment, breaking Landaluce for 6-5 before serving out the set to level the match.
In the deciding set, Fritz looked more secure on serve and did not face a break point, although he was unable to convert two opportunities of his own. The match was ultimately decided in another tie-break, where the defending champion raised his level once more and sealed victory 7-3, converting his very first match point.
The milestone win made Fritz the first active American player to reach 350 ATP Tour victories. The American admitted he had not been aware of the achievement.
“I didn’t know that, but 350 is pretty cool,” Fritz said afterwards. “I’d love to get to 500 wins one day. That’s a nice goal to have.”
In Friday’s quarter-finals, Fritz will face Italy’s Mattia Bellucci, who secured his place in the last eight earlier in the week with a victory over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
“This win gives me a lot of confidence for the next rounds,” Fritz said. “At the beginning it wasn’t great, but I improved set by set. By the end I was really enjoying myself out there.”
Shelton vs. Giron suspended
The all-American clash between top seed Ben Shelton and Marcos Giron could not be completed on Thursday evening. With Giron leading 7-6(4), 4-4, play was suspended due to darkness. The match will resume on Friday.