Fritz sizzles in Turin
American stuns Felix to reach semi-final in atp Finals
TURIN: American Taylor Fritz outlasted Felix Auger-aliassime in three sets and Rafael Nadal avoided matching his worst ever losing sequence with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Norway’s Casper Ruud in round-robin play at the ATP Finals.
In a clash of tournament debutantes neither Fritz nor Augeraliassime could make inroads on the other’s serve but in the first set tie breaker, the Canadian’s normally solid backhand began to misfire and a forehand error put Fritz out ahead.
The players remained on serve in the second to bring about another breaker that Fritz appeared to have in hand while leading 4-2.
But an errant ball toss produced Fritz’s first double fault and shifted momentum in favour of Augeraliassime, who pumped his fist after slapping a crosscourt winner to force a deciding set.
The key game of the match came with Fritz leading 3-2 in the third when he finally got his first looks at break points, converting his fourth opportunity when Auger-aliassime pulled a forehand wide.
Fritz rolled from there, holding to love to consolidate the break and jumping in the air when Augeraliassime pushed a backhand out on match point, his 36th unforced error.
“It was tough, no one really had any chances early on,” Fritz said after his 7-6 (7-4). 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 win.
“I had to just not get frustrated, had to reset. I felt going into the third that a break was coming.”
Fritz will face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Nadal had already been eliminated from semi-final contention when he walked on court in Turin after back-to-back straight-sets defeats in the Green Group by Fritz and Augeraliassime. But the Spaniard was clearly eager not to end a season that began in such spectacular fashion by succumbing to a fifth successive defeat – something the 36-year-old had not experienced since before his career took off in 2004-05.
The first set was full of intensity inside the Pala Alpitour where the afternoon crowd were firmly behind Nadal.
Nadal fought off two break points at 4-4 in the opening set as Ruud threatened but after that the Mallorcan found the range on his forehand.
The 23-year-old Ruud went down 0-40 on serve at 5-6 and world number two Nadal needed just one chance to seal the set, punching away a volley into an empty court.
It was a similar story in the second set with nothing between the players until Nadal pounced again in the 12th game.
Ruud saved one match point but Nadal clubbed away a backhand winner to finish his season on a high.
“I’ve been practising well but just not had enough matches to be at the level I need to be, not enough confidence after six tough months,” Nadal said.
“At least I finished with a positive victory which is important.”
Ruud still advanced to the semi-finals but is now 0-8 against opponents ranked in the top three.