It took 2:36 hours in Turin before Taylor Fritz was able to break through his opponent’s service for the first time. The American needed 4 attempts to achieve the break when the score was 3: 2 in the 3rd set. After that, however, the young Canadian’s resistance was broken. Fritz pushed in another break, which was tantamount to victory.
As a group runner-up behind Casper Ruud, Fritz will meet Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Saturday. The Serb is already certain to be the winner of the red group before the final group games.
No sign of breaks for a long time
Fritz had been able to rely on his serve for practically the entire game. Even when he was confronted with 3 break chances from his opponent at the beginning of the 2nd set, the 1.96 m tall American kept his nerve.
Only in the tie-break of the 2nd round did the serve let him down for a short time. With a double fault, he gave away a mini-break lead. A little later, Auger-Aliassime managed to equalize the set. The Canadian drew his best phase in this phase of the game and convinced with some forehand winners worth seeing.
In the first set, neither Fritz nor Auger-Aliassime had a chance to break through in service. However, the American was a little better through his service games, while the Canadian struggled with a certain nervousness, especially at the beginning of the game.
Here’s how to proceed
The final group games are on Friday in Turin. While Djokovic and Medvedev play in the afternoon, Andrei Rublew and Stefanos Tsitsipas duel in the evening for the last remaining place in the semifinals. The winner of this game will meet Ruud on Saturday.