Taylor Fritz earned his pass to the semifinals of the Delray Beach tournament on Friday after defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.59th in the world, by 7-6 (10/8) and 6-4.
Mannarino, who won the first two meetings in 2016 and 2017he faces a player who has grown in stature over the past year since his Indian Wells win over Rafael Nadal in the final, his first at the Masters 1000.
But that didn’t stop him from getting off to a strong start, storming back to take a 3-1 lead in the first set.. The lead didn’t last long as Fritz came from behind to take the 3-3 lead.
Mannarino saved three set points before earning one, rewarded with a double attack on the exchange. But Fritz also knows how to quickly convert on his fourth chance.
In the second set, the American rallied to take a 5-2 lead thanks to a double break.. The Frenchman then dropped the rhythm of his punches, taking advantage of his rival’s negligence, to get back to 5-4.
But Fritz did not give his rival any hopeleaned on his first ball in the next game to finish in less than two hours.
The 25-year-old American will face her compatriot Mackenzie McDonald (56th) in the semifinals, while the other semifinal duel will face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (33rd) with Moldovan Radu Albot (113th).
Fritz, who fell early in the second round of the Australian Open in January, coming from the semifinal in Dallas, where he lost, like Mannarino in the previous round, to Yibing Wuwho became the first Chinese player in history to win an ATP tournament.
Source: La Verdad
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