Davis Cup: Fritz keeps USA’s semi-final hopes alive by taking Australia’s De Minaur down
Taylor Fritz defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets on Thursday to bring USA level with Australia in the Davis Cup quarter-finals tie
Taylor Fritz (Action Plus/Panoramic)
World No 4 Taylor Fritz kept the USA’s semi-final hopes by taking Australia’s Alex de Minaur down in the second singles match in the last-eight of the 2024 Davis Cup Finals after his fellow American Ben Shelton suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Fritz defeated De Minaur 6-3, 6-4 in 71 minutes to draw the proceedings at 1-1 in the quarter-final tie between the USA and Australia at Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain, on Thursday, November 21.
The Aussie fared better than his opponent in terms of hitting aces as 12 of his legitimate serves went unreturned against Fritz’s 10. He, however, made the American’s job a bit easier by spraying three double faults adding to his 20 unforced errors.
Set 1: Fritz puts de minaur under the pump straightaway
Fritz was quick to put De Minaur under the pump in the opening set. He broke the Aussie in his first service game and remained unbroken for the remaining games, saving a break point in the third.
The American notably came close to securing another break in the sixth game but the world No 9 dug deep to save his serve.
Nothing much separated the two in the stats as the duo finished the set with five aces each. The American hit seven winners but committed eight unforced errors against De Minaur’s eight and nine, respectively.
Set 2: Fritz falters first but recovers quickly
The second set saw a fiercer fight between the two competitors.
Fritz faltered first by losing his serve in the second game but recovered quickly, breaking De Minaur back in the following game to return on serve.
Both players looked solid until the Aussie started showing signs of vulnerability in the seventh game as Fritz fired a 161 km/h forehand winner to earn three break points in the seventh game. De Minaur survived all the break points and held his serve but couldn’t hold his opponent off for long, getting broken in the ninth game.
Fritz then served it out to secure his seventh Davis Cup win and send the quarter-finals tie into the deciding doubles duel.
