Atlanta [US], July 28 : Taylor Fritz defeated Wu Yibing to reach the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open.
The top seed relied on his hefty service delivery in key moments to defeat Wu 6-4, 7-6(5) in a match that lasted for one hour and 30 minutes.
In the opening game of the evening session at Atlantic Station, Fritz got off to a quick 4-0 lead and won 81 percent of his first-serve points to advance.
"Just a couple points here and there. I had some break chances, he had some break chances. It could have gone either way, I kind of just barely got out of the points I needed to win," ATP.com quoted Fritz as saying in his on-court interview.
The native of California avoided two set points at 4-5 in the second set. After closing the game with three straight aces from 30/40, Fritz finished the match in a second-set tie-break.
The 25-year-old Fritz avenged this year’s Dallas Open semifinal loss to Wu, who was eventually crowned champion at the ATP 250 for his maiden tour-level title. Their ATPHead2Head series is now tied at 1-1.
After winning his fifth ATP Tour title at Delray Beach in February, Fritz, the ninth-ranked player in the world, is vying for his second tour-level trophy of the year. The former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori or Shang Juncheng will be his next opponent.
Dominik Koepfer of Germany defeated third seed Daniel Evans in Atlanta 2-6, 7-6(3), and 6-4.
Koepfer will next face eighth-seeded J.J. Wolf, who defeated fellow countryman Maxime Cressy 7-6(7), 6-3 to advance. In the first set tie-break, Wolf saved a set point at 6/7 before scoring three straight points. World No. 46 Wolf is currently playing in his fourth quarterfinal of the year.
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