Tommy Paul defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-7(2) 7-6(2) in a stunning semifinal of ATP 500 tournament in Acapulco after 3.5 hours of intense and exhausting battle.
Fritz was the favorite before the all-American clash for the place in the final, but it was Paul who started match better. Both players created some breakpoint chances in opening set, but Paul made the only one break in 6th game which occured decisive to take the set with a score 6-4. The world's number 5 was trying to make a comeback, gaining a break advantage in 4th game of second set, but Paul managed to level the score and moved into the lead after 9th game, having a chance to serve out the straight sets victory. The recent Australian Open's semifinalist blew out his chance despite being 40-30 within own serve and Fritz stayed alive in this match, forcing a tiebreak where the favorized American dominated Paul to make it into decisive set.
Third set was an absolutely crazy stuff. Fritz earned the early break and was seemingly in the driver seat on the road to the final, but Paul fought back in 6th game. There were no breaks since then, but 6 remaining games of this set were the destruction game with long, exhausting battles and multiple deuces, where both players could move tip the scales in own favour. The air conditions in Acapulco where the detrimental factor in this long match, as both players were feeling cramps. Fritz took it even worse, as he threw up on court during 12th game, when he needed to save two matchpoints within own serve. The world's number 5 survived into tiebreak, but Paul turned out to be better then, dominating from the start, and moving into final.
Paul commented on the hardships of this match and praised his opponent in the post-match interview: "You have to work really hard for the win like that. It is never going to be easy against Fritz, he is unreal. He does not give you any points throughout the whole match, you feel like you have to work for everything. Obviously he got up a break in the third there and it was weird, I started feeling my body a little bit and doing some weird serves, and I do not know if he loved it. And then I think something happened with his stomach too. I think I got a little lucky there that we were both struggling, not just me."
The American will face Alex De Minaur in the final. The Aussie made an upset on world's number 10 Holger Rune. The Dane was a pre-match favorite with an odd 1.49. First set ended up as expected with 6-3 win for Rune. Second one brought no breaks till 12th game, when De Minaur managed to level the set score. The world's number 22 was a better player in this part of the match, as he had setpoints on Rune's serve in 10th game as well before. De Minaur continued his momentum, playing brilliantly in deciding set and moving into final with a score 3-6 7-5 6-2 after 2:50 hours of battle.
Here are the semifinals highlights:
