Fritz beats Shapovalov to complete all American quarter-final line up in Acapulco top half

Ranked a career-high No 5 in the world, Fritz beat Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday

Taylor Fritz, Delray Beach 2023 | © Icon SMI / Panoramic

Tennis Majors

March 2, 2023

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC •Round of 16 • completed

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T. FritzvsD. Shapovalov

American Taylor Fritz, the No 3 seed, advanced to the last eight of the Mexican Open by beating Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 at the Princess Mundo Imperial in Acapulco on Wednesday.

Fritz won the Delray Beach Open title earlier this month and is now on a six-match winning streak.

Fritz, ranked at a career-high No 5 in the world, will face fellow American Frances Tiafoe, the No 6 seed, next. Tiafoe leads the head-to-head between the two by a margin of 5-1.

I think both of us really want to beat the other one – Fritz on his next opponent Tiafoe

“Frances and I are really close friends, but we’re also rivals as well,” Fritz said as quoted by the ATP Tour. ”We’ve played each other a lot and I know I usually approach it like any other match, but I feel like whenever we play there’s probably a little bit of extra pressure. I think both of us really want to beat the other one.”

Ahead of his win today, Fritz had defeated compatriot John Isner (3-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Shapovalov, ranked No 30 in the world, edged out Serb Miomir Kecmanovic (6-7 (4), 6-0, 7-5) in the previous round of the Acapulco Open.

An American man is guaranteed to feature in the Acapulco final with four Americans reaching the last eight from the top half. While Fritz will take on Tiafoe, Tommy Paul meets Mackenzie McDonald in the other quarter-final in the top half.

Acapulco ATP500, other second-round matches (Princess Mundo Imperial, hard, USD 2.013.940, most recent results first):