Griekspoor upsets top seed Fritz to reach Citi Open final, faces Evans in final

Tallon Griekspoor picked up his first-ever top-10 win and also advanced to the biggest final of his career by upsetting No 1 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Citi Open on Saturday night. Griekspoor prevailed in the first semi-final match after one hour and 58 minutes.

The 12th-seeded Dutchman will go up against Dan Evans in Sunday’s championship match.

Griekspoor to go for third title in third final

Griekspoor is through to his third final of the season and third of his career. The world No 37 previously triumphed in Pune at the beginning of 2023 and more recently lifted the trophy in front of the home crowd on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

“It all started first week of the year winning Pune,” Griekspoor reflected. “I mean, it was not the strongest ATP (field) — but it probably opened my eyes. Playing third round Australian Open after (and then) semis in Rotterdam. Somehow week by week I just started to believe in really having the level to beat those kind of players.

“(I) lost to some good guys this year; played some great weeks. Winning at home was something really special. That gave even more confidence.

“Yeah, coming here, first week of the American swing, making final here is something really special — especially beating Taylor here at home. He’s (been) a top-10 player for many years already.”

Fritz feels the heat as top seed

Fritz was also the top seed last week in Atlanta, where he took care of business and secured the sixth ATP title of his career. Afterward, the 25-year-old American talked about the pressure of being the No 1 seed and the favorite at tournaments such as Atlanta and Washington, DC.

“Everyone’s kind of coming after you,” Fritz said after lifting the Atlanta trophy. “No one has anything to lose when they’re playing you. I feel like prior to this tournament I had been playing a lot of matches where I played pretty (well) and still lost because I feel like players have played really, really good matches against me. That just comes with being a top player; guys are going to raise their level when they play you.”

That was certainly the case on Saturday, when Griekspoor undoubtedly turned in one of the best performances of his career.

Fritz had been hoping to remain undefeated on U.S. hard courts this summer. Bidding for a second title in as many weeks, the world No 9 advanced to the last four with wins over American qualifier Zachary Svajda (6-3, 6-3), No 15 seed Andy Murray (6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4) and Australian Jordan Thompson (6-3, 6-3).

Earlier in the tournament, Griekspoor defeated Liam Broady of Great Britain (6-4, 6-2), French wild card Gael Monfils (6-4, 1-6, 6-3) and American J.J. Wolf (7-5, 6-4).

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