Photo Source: TTV
Taylor Fritz survived double duty and windy conditions on Thursday in Eastbourne to keep alive his title defense at the Lexus Eastbourne Open in Devonshire Park.
The 27-year-old American topped Marcos Giron 7-5, 4-6 ,7-5 to set a semifinal with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. This came after Fritz had finished off Brazilian phenom Joao Fonseca 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a match that was suspended due to darkness after two sets on Wednesday.
Fritz, who has won titles in Eastbourne in 2019, 2022 and 2024, improves to 16-4 at Eastbourne lifetime.
He hit 16 aces against Giron in a wind-addled contest. Did he enjoy playing in those conditions?
“No,” he said. “I love this tournament and I love the way it feels to play here. I’ve been very lucky all those years I’ve won the tournament to not play in windy conditions.
“It’s tough for me when I don’t get to play the tennis that I love to play here and I have to scrap and play some crazy tennis, especially how it was for the first set and a half, it’s crazy, but I’m really happy to get through it.”
Recently married Davidovich Fokina took out third-seeded Jakub Mensik 6-4 7-5. Fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert and Jenson Brooksby will play the lower-half semifinal.