November 22, 2024
Taylor Fritz bounced back quickly from tie-break disappointment to defeat Grigor Dimitrov in an absorbing fourth-round clash on Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The 11th-seeded American prevailed 6-2, 6-7(11), 6-1 against Dimitrov to reach the quarter-finals in Rome for the first time in five main-draw appearances.
“To be honest, I feel like normally in those situations, I’d be a lot more uptight and nervy, but honestly I felt pretty calm,” said Fritz, when asked about the 24-point second-set tie-break. “I think it was tough because slowly the sun was moving the whole match, and right in the tie-breaker is the first time it was bad for me on that side. So I threw in the double fault.
“I had a really good opportunity on a second serve [return], match point, and he hit it into my body and a bit slower than the other ones. I just caught it a bit early trying to get out the way of it. It’s easy to go back and dwell on that the whole third set, but I did a really good job at just putting it behind me and not thinking about that second serve return.”
Now into his 50th tour-level quarter-final, Fritz will take on third seed Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 7-5 winner against Nuno Borges, next at the Foro Italico.
The 26-year-old is the first American to reach the last eight at three different clay-court ATP Masters 1000 events, having also made that stage at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters (2022-23) and the Mutua Madrid Open (2024).
Alejandro Tabilo also booked his quarter-final spot on Tuesday at the Foro Italico. The Chilean backed up his stunning third-round win against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic by edging Karen Khachanov 7-6(5), 7-6(10). In doing so, he reached the last eight at a Masters 1000 event for the first time.
Tabilo, who is up four spots to No. 28 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his Rome run so far, will next take on Zhang Zhizhen. The Chinese defeated Thiago Monteiro 7-6(4), 6-3 to reach his second Masters 1000 quarter-final.
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