Fritz’s perfect effectiveness puts out Raonic’s fire at Queen’s | ATP Tour

London Queen’s Club

Fritz puts out Raonic’s fire at Queen’s Club

On the same day, Korda surprised Dimitrov

June 19, 2024

Being 100% effective by saving break points on serve and also taking advantage of those generated by the rest is so rare for a player that Taylor Fritz achieved it this Wednesday for the first time in his season.

After saving the three break opportunities he faced (after coming back from 0/40 at 1-2 in the second set) and completing the only one that generated the rest in the penultimate game of the match, the American won with sets of 7 -6(5), 6-4 against Milos Raonic to advance to the quarterfinals at the Cinch Championships in London.

The No. 12 of the PIF ATP Rankings was the only seed that won on the day, and thanks to an intelligent approach that annulled Raonic who had just set the record for most aces in a match in the first round (he hit 47) best of three sets on the ATP Tour. In fact, Fritz signed more direct aces than the Canadian this Wednesday (11 against 9).

The 26-year-old right-hander now has 25 matches won in his career on grass on the ATP Tour, and will try to add one more when he faces Australian Jordan Thompson in the next round, against whom he leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead 1-0 between them. after beating him on the fast tracks of Washington last year.

Thompson, No. 43 in the world, has just left Andy Murray behind. The Australian was leading 4-1 when the former No. 1 in the rankings, who had just played his 1,000th match on the ATP Tour on Tuesday, had to withdraw due to injury.

Another who advanced to the quarterfinals was the American Sebastian Korda. The finalist from ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week played at a very high level to beat the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, third seed and champion of the tournament in 2014, with sets of 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

“It was a very hard fight. We were both serving well and waiting for our opportunities, but there weren’t many. But when they came, I tried to take advantage of them,” Korda said. “It’s amazing to play at Queen’s, it’s one of my favorite tournaments.”

This victory, his first of the year against a member of the Top 10, comes in a special week for Korda. The 23-year-old right-hander has been making his debut in the ranking since Monday (No. 23), and at Queen’s Club he seems to be adding merits to continue rising. His next rival will be the Australian Rinky Hijikata, who defeated the Italian Matteo Arnaldi this Wednesday after two tight tie-breaks.