Atlanta Open: Fritz advances to semi-finals, ending Nishikori’s comeback

American Taylor Fritz, the top seed, won against Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals of the Atlanta Open on Friday evening.

The win ends what was an impressive comeback for Nishikori, who was competing in his first ATP-level event for almost two years after undergoing hip surgery. After winning back-to-back matches against Australian Jordan Thompson (7-6 (5), 7-6 (5)) and Chinese qualifier Juncheng Shang (6-4, 7-6 (3)), the task of upsetting world No 9 Fritz proved too great for the Japanese player, who visibly struggled with a knee issue in the opening set.

Again, it was Fritz’s serving under pressure that won him the match. When faced with a break point to put the second set back on serve, the American reeled off three straight points thanks to big first serves and strong forehands.

“Super happy with how I played today”, says Fritz

“Super happy with how I played today, getting better and better each day. Plenty of positive I can take from today,” said Fritz after the match. “Maybe I could serve even better, he had some chances to break me there at the end.”

The top seed will play compatriot J.J. Wolf next, the No 8 seed, in what will be their first ATP meeting.

“J.J. has been around for a bit now, so it’s strange we haven’t played already. It’ll be exciting for us to play each other for the first time,” the American said ahead of their semi-final meeting.

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