By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, October 26, 2021

 

Taylor Fritz flew through eight of the first nine games defeating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-1, 6-4 t reach the round of 16 at the St. Petersburg Open.

Photo credit: FormulaTX/St. Petersburg Open Facebook

American allies will be adversaries in St. Petersburg.

Taylor Fritz flew through eight of the first nine games defeating Emil Ruusuvuori 6-1, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 at the St. Petersburg Open.

More: All Aboard the Real Federer Express

The 23-year-old Fritz set the tone on serve. Fritz pumped 11 aces, permitted just six points on first serve and fended off five of six break points in a 67-minute win.

Fritz raised his 2021 record to 27-19 as he takes aim at a sixth semifinal of the season.

Earlier this month, Fritz knocked off a pair of Top 10 opponents—Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev—en route to the Indian Wells semifinals. Next up for Fritz is an all-American showdown vs. good friend Tommy Paul for a quarterfinal spot.

Earlier, Paul broke serve four times in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Spaniard Pedro Martinez.



It was a productive day for Americans as 56th-ranked Mackenzie McDonald battled by Belarusian qualifier Egor Gerasimov 7-5, 6-4 joining Sebastian Korda, Fritz and Paul as one of four Americans through to the last 16.

McDonald will play third-seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who had a first-round bye, for a place in the quarterfinals.

Belarusian Ilya Ivashka continued his strong season saving all four break points he faced in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Laslo Djere. Winston-Salem champion Ivashka improved to 30-14 on the season setting up a round of 16 match vs. top-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev.