The rising American star, Taylor Fritz, is living his dream this season. The 24-year-old had a decent start to the 2022 season, entering the fourth round of the Australian Open, before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a five-setter thriller. However, he claimed the biggest title of his career at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Fritz defeated the reigning Australian Open champion, Rafael Nadal, in straight sets to win his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells. Further, he is going strong at Monte Carlo Masters.
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Fritz is the tenth seed in the tournament and has entered the quarterfinals. Yesterday, he had a thumping win over compatriot, Sebastian Korda, in straight sets. However, his victory was marred by an incident during the match.
An unfortunate incident occurs at Monte Carlo Masters
Before the penultimate game of the second set in the match between Fritz and Korda, a ball girl appeared to be in discomfort due to extremely warm climatic conditions. As the temperatures soared to 25 degrees Celsius, the ball girl was taken to the side of the court. However, while she moved away from the court, she unfortunately collapsed.
Sebastian Korda, who was sitting just in front of where the incident took place, stood up and looked in anguish. However, the medical staff rushed in immediately and treated the girl. Minutes later, the girl stood up and walked off the court without any assistance, easing the tensions on the court. As the girl walked off, the crowd applauded her.
As far as Taylor Fritz’s win over Sebastian Korda is concerned, it was a dominating performance by the reigning Indian Wells champion. He defeated his compatriot in straight sets 7-6 (4), 7-5 in just over an hour and a half.
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The first set began with both the players striving to hold their serves. Further, the set progressed into the tie-breaker. Fritz won points at crucial junctures to claim the opening set.
In the second set, the two players exchanges break of serves in the seventh and the eighth games. However, Fritz punched a deciding blow, as he broke Korda’s serve in the 11th game of the second set. Subsequently, he held his serve to win the match.
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Fritz will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarterfinals, who had defeated World Number 1, Novak Djokovic, in the second round.