Dialled-In Fritz Moves Past Garin In Madrid

Chasing his maiden ATP Tour title on clay at the Mutua Madrid Open, Taylor Fritz demonstrated his recent improvement on the surface Monday with a scintillating 6-1 7-6(4) third-round triumph against Cristian Garin.

The American marked his coach Michael Russell’s birthday with a lights-out performance on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, where he struck the ball cleanly on serve and off the ground throughout his 92-minute victory. The No. 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Fritz fired 26 winners and held his nerve after Garin forced a second-set tie-break to reach the last 16 in Madrid for the first time in three appearances.

Now 7-2 for the year on clay, the Monte-Carlo semi-finalist Fritz will take on Cameron Norrie or Zhang Zhizhen as he chases his second ATP Masters 1000 title.

More to follow…