By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 27, 2019
Taylor Fritz battled past Cameron Norrie to set a final of 21-and-unders with Alex de Minaur in Atlanta.
Photo Source: AP
Taylor Fritz edged Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-1 3-6 6-3 to book his spot alongside Alex de Minaur in the BB&T Atlanta Open final.
Fritz, who claimed his maiden title last month on the grass at Eastbourne, improved to 22-17 on the season and reached his third career final. The American served exceptionally well and struck his groundstrokes with pace and depth for most of the night.
After dominating the opener, Norrie played much better in the second set and saw his only break points of the match. He converted one of two break points and won eight of ten second-serve points to take the second set, but it was Fritz who delivered in a tense decider.
The 21-year-old American won 14 of 17 first-serve points and never faced a break point in the third. He broke for 4-2 and held serve twice to serve out his victory in one hour and 38 minutes.
Fritz will face the youngest finalist in the history of the Atlanta Open in de Minaur on Sunday. The 20-year-old Aussie punched his way past hard-serving Reilly Opelka 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes to book his second final of 2019.
De Minaur was opportunistic on return, stepping close to the baseline to take swipes at Opelka’s mammoth serve. The strategy paid dividends in the third set when de Minaur earned five break points and broke two times.
De Minaur was also near perfect when protecting his own serve. He won 45 of 47 first-serve points and never faced a break point.
Fritz and de Minaur have only met once previously, with the Aussie claiming a win over the American at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan last season.