Taylor Fritz saved two set points in the second set to beat Cameron Norrie 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in 1 hour and 33 minutes. The Californian player has reached his second consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter finals after enjoying a run to the semifinal at Indian Wells. The 24-year-old has won 11 of his past 13 matches and finished runner-up to Marin Cilic in the final of the St. Petersburg Open.
Fritz earned the break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and held his next two service games to seal the first set 6-3.
The second set went on serve until the seventh game when Norrie saved both break points he faced. Fritz fended off two set points while he was trailing 4-5 15-40 in the 10th game. The US player held serve to force the second set to the tie-break and earned four match points at 6-2 with three mini-breaks. Norrie saved a match point on his own serve, but Fritz closed out the tie-break on his second chance with a forehand winner with a strong serve.
After this defeat Norrie’s hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals took a blow.
Novak Djokovic reached the quarter final without playing the match after Gael Monfils pulled out due to an abductor injury.
“Following the medical opinion of my team, we did an ultrasound a few hours ago and we identified the muscular lesion. Following this, we decided with the medical team and my tennis team to withdraw. It’s hoorible frustration, because all of my family, my relatives are here, my mother came from Martinique and my father from Guadeloupe. We waited until the last moment, and yesterday the ultrasound was not great. This morning we did another ultrasound, it was not fantastic either”, said Monfils.
Unseeded Australian player James Duckworth reached his first Masters 1000 quarter final with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 win over his compatriot Alexei Popyrin. Duckworth set up a quarter final match against Hubert Hurkacz.
Popyrin went up a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Duckworth broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Popyrin saved four set points, but Duckworth sealed the tie-break 8-6 after 56 minutes, as Popyrin hit a forehand long.
Popyrin lost of the first 20 points to trail 0-4 down and faced a break point in the fifth game, but he held serve at deuce for 1-4. The young Australian player pulled back both breaks to draw level to 4-4. Duckworth raised his level again and earned his fourth break to win the second set 6-4.
Duckworth will break into the top 50 for the first time in his career next week. Popyrin lost to Tommy Paul in the qualifying round but joined the main draw as lucky loser.
