Posted by Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 1, 2024
Taylor Fritz he is the last American man standing in Madrid – and the first American man to reach the semifinals in the Spanish capital since 2005 – thanks to his 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Francisco Cerundolo to close Wednesday night's session at the Caja Magical.
Fritz will face Andrey Rublev in the semifinals on Friday.
It was a banner day for Fritz in more ways than one – and he earned his 250th win on tour to become only the sixth player born in 1995 or earlier to achieve the feat.
250 wins or more, born in 1995 or earlier (as of May 1, 2024)
Zverev, born 1997, 416
Medvedev, born 1996, 355
Tsitsipas, born 1998, 321
Rublev, born in 1997, 311
Khachanov, born 1996, 261
Fritz, born 1997, 250
“I remember the first one,” said Fritz, smiling.
When asked how many he thought he could win one day, Fritz said: “It depends on whether I stay healthy now. I've been around for a really long time – if I stay healthy I can quit my job as one of the nicest guys there.”
Fritz had to work hard to knock out the 21st seeded Argentine. He made 79 percent of his first games and won 83 percent of those points, saving one of two break points he faced.
He struck out Cerundolo three times from six innings to improve to 19-7 on the season.
“It was really hard to be honest,” Fritz said. “I had to try to hang on to the game with my performance and fight for some points even though I don't feel comfortable playing points, and take my chances when I get them.”
Fritz, in his fourth semifinal at the Masters 1000 level, owns a 5-3 lifetime record against Rublev, but they lost their only meeting on clay, last year in the semifinals in Monte-Carlo.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’
fbq(‘init’, ‘1846407775622432’); // Insert your pixel ID here.
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
Source link
