By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday Might 1, 2024
Taylor Fritz is the final American man standing at Madrid – and the primary American man to succeed in the semifinals within the Spanish capital since 2005 – because of his 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Francisco Cerundolo to shut out Wednesday’s night time session on the Caja Magical.
Fritz will face Andrey Rublev within the semifinals on Friday.
It was a banner day for Fritz in additional methods than one – he additionally earned his 250th win on tour to turn into simply the sixth participant born in 1995 or earlier to attain the feat.
250 wins or extra, born 1995 or earlier (as of Might 1, 2024)
Zverev, born 1997, 416Medvedev, born 1996, 355Tsitsipas, born 1998, 321Rublev, born 1997, 311Khachanov, born 1996, 261Fritz, born 1997, 250
“I keep in mind the primary one,” Fritz mentioned, with a smile.
When requested what number of he thought he may in the future obtain, Fritz mentioned: “It simply relies on if I keep wholesome now. I’ve been round for a extremely very long time – if I keep wholesome I may finish my profession as a type of guys that’s fairly up there.”
Fritz needed to work exhausting to take out the Twenty first-seeded Argentinian. He made 79 % of his first serves and received 83 % of these factors, saving one of many two break factors he confronted.
He broke Cerundolo thrice from six alternatives to enhance to 19-7 on the season.
“It was actually robust from the bottom to be sincere,” Fritz mentioned. “I simply needed to attempt to cling within the match with my serve and struggle by means of some factors although I did not really feel tremendous snug enjoying the factors, and take my probabilities after I bought them.”
Fritz, into his fourth semifinal on the Masters 1000 degree, owns a 5-3 lifetime document towards Rublev, however misplaced their solely assembly on clay, final 12 months within the Monte-Carlo semifinals.