Davidovich Fokina ends Fritz’s reign at Delray Beach

Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the No 8 seed, reached the last 4 of the Delray Beach Open by defeating American Taylor Fritz, the top seed, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center on Saturday night.

The Spaniard ended the defending two-time champion’s reign at the tournament, stopping Fritz’s Delray Beach winning streak at nine. Fritz was bidding to become the first American man to complete a three-peat at the same tournament since John Isner won his third consecutive title in Atlanta in 2015.

The Spaniard had to battle through physical issues to finish off the win. He took a medical timeout for a back issue when Fritz was about to serve to stay in the match at 5-6 in the second set. He later said that he apologised to Fritz because he didn’t want to take a timeout before the American’s service game.

He explained that there was nothing he could do.

“I apologized to Taylor because I was really feeling my back in the end of the second set. I didn’t do it on purpose. I had to take 5 or 6 pills to be able to play,” he said.

Fritz and Davidovich had a warm handshake at the net after the match. The Spaniard earns his fourth career top-5 win and reaches his sixth ATP semi-final.

Davidovich Fokina, ranked No 60, will face Italian Matteo Arnaldi, the No 4 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the Spaniard won against Japanese lucky loser Taro Daniel (6-2, 7-6 (2)) and American wildcard Mackenzie McDonald (6-2, 5-7, 6-0).

Fritz, ranked No 4, won against Chinese Yunchaokete Bu (7-6 (4), 6-2) in the previous round of the Delray Beach tournament.

Delray Beach ATP 250, other last eight results (Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center, hard, USD 680.140, most recent results first):

• Matteo Arnaldi beat Brandon Nakashima (6): 7-6 (2), 6-4
• Alex Michelsen (3) beat Cameron Norrie: 7-6 (3), 7-5
• Miomir Kecmanovic (7) beat Marcos Giron (5): 2-6, 6-4, 6-2