Fritz Fights Through, Norrie Sails In Los Cabos
Third seed Taylor Fritz outlasted countryman Steve Johnson in a 6-4, 6-4 battle on Thursday to reach his third semi-final of the year at the Mifel Open in Los Cabos.
Just over a month and a half ago at Roland Garros, Fritz left the court in a wheelchair after suffering a right meniscus injury, which required surgery. Now, after reaching the third round at Wimbledon (l. to Zverev) in his comeback event, the No. 37-ranked American is back into the last four of an ATP Tour event for the first time since April (Cagliari).
Fritz saved all four break points that he faced across both sets against Johnson. He served 11 aces and won 80 per cent (27/34) of points behind his first serve to close out the victory in an hour and 32 minutes and improve to 3-2 in his ATP Head2Head against Johnson.
Fritz, who reached the final in Los Cabos in 2019, will next face top seed Cameron Norrie as the American searches for his second ATP Tour title.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Norrie, who is making his first appearance as the top seed at an ATP Tour event this week, raced into the semi-finals after dropping just two sets against American qualifier Ernesto Escobedo to win 6-1, 6-1. The Brit, who currently sits at a career-high No. 30 in the FedEx Rankings, won 84 per cent (21/25) of his first-serve points, and broke serve five times en route to victory.
He will look to take the lead in his ATP Head2Head against Fritz as the pair meet for the seventh time in Los Cabos. The American topped Norrie in their most recent clash at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March to level the count at 3 wins apiece.