By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 16, 2022
Taylor Fritz out-dueled Alex de Minaur 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) in an Indian Wells thriller to reach his third consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
Photo credit: Getty
Facing tennis’ version of sudden death, Taylor Fritz continues coming to life.
Playing a final-set tiebreaker for the second straight day, Fritz laid it all on the line.
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Driving a backhand off the baseline on match point, Fritz closed a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Alex de Minaur fighting into his third straight Masters 1000 quarterfinal in Indian Wells.
A day after Fritz fired his 11th ace sealing a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) victory over tough Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar in a sticky two hour, 49-minute conquest, he fought off long-time nemesis de Minaur for the second time in four meetings.
A fierce Fritz came back from a break down in the decider today charging into his second straight BNP Paribas Open quarterfinal in a two hour, 23-minute test that showed both Fritz’ stamina and problem-solving skill against a very different opponent to the Spaniard he squeezed past yesterday.
“It’s so special to be back in the quarterfinals after such a good run last year. I want it so bad,” 2021 semifinalist Fritz told Andrew Krasny in his on-court interview. “Obviously, it was a really tough first set and a half for me. I had to change a lot of things, I think.
“I played three hours [yesterday] against someone who is playing at the fence playing with a lot of spin. To coming out here today playing someone standing on the baseline just ripping flat balls it took a lot of adjusting. Just to kind of mentally get through that—get through all of the frustration then kind of come out in a tight one feels great.”
The 20th-seeded Southern Californian will try to sustain this homecoming party when he faces Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic for a trip to the semifinals.
On Stadium 2, Kecmanovic broke serve in the final game surprising Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4 to equal the biggest win of his career and reach his second Masters quarterfinal three years after he reached the last eight in Indian Wells.
“I’ve said it a million times: this is like my home tournament so having a good week there’s really no place I’d rather do it than here,” Fritz said. “I love playing here so much.”
Comprehensive court coverage from de Minaur snuffed out safe space for Fritz to hit in past encounters.
The speedy Aussie can coax opponents into over-hitting with his skill extending points. That’s what happened early as Fritz missed back-to-back backhands and bounced his Head stick off the court surrendering serve in the fifth game. De Minaur confirmed the break for 4-2.
Fritz scattered a backhand wide to face triple set point on his serve in the ninth game. Fritz fended off all three firing an ace out wide to deny the third set point. Running around his backhand, Fritz sprayed a diagonal forehand wide to face a fourth break point.
De Minaur read the wide serve, spit back a return and scored his second break when Fritz sailed a forehand ending the first set in 33 minutes.
The feisty Aussie played a much cleaner opening set winning 13 of 14 first-serve points and committing just three unforced errors compared to 12 for Fritz.
Stepping in to attack the 5’11” Aussie’s serve helped Fritz turn the tide midway through the second set.
Driving his returns with more authority in the second set, Fritz broke at 15 for a 3-2 lead then worked through a tense deuce hold to confirm. De Minaur fought off three break points, carving out a clever drop shot and an ace, as he avoided the double break holding for 3-4.
The 31st-ranked Aussie saved a set point in the ninth game, but that was temporary reprieve. Fritz flowed through a hold at 15 forcing a final set after 77 minutes.
The 2021 Indian Wells semifinalist struggled with his smash and paid the price at the start of the third set. Fritz flagged a routine overhead long opening the door for de Minaur. The Aussie lured another error to break for 2-0.
To that point, de Minaur had won the majority of longer exchanges, but Fritz showed stubborn stamina prevailing in a punishing 44-shot rally—longest of the match—for double break point. Fritz converted his second break point to break back.
The pair exchanged breaks in the fifth and sixth games then both stayed strong on serve into the tiebreaker.
Playing points with care helped de Minaur post a 7-1 tiebreaker record on the season heading into this extra session.
Reflexing back a deep return, de Minaur clocked a crosscourt forehand to take a 5-4 lead in the breaker.
Then Fritz elevated firing a big forehand, sliding a serve out wide to create space then crunching a backhand winner behind de Minaur for match point at 6-5.
Standing toe-to-toe with his steady opponent, Fritz banged a backhand right off the baseline that jumped away from the Aussie provoking the error to end the drama.