By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday April 15, 2023
Andrey Rublev braved nearly two hours of rain delay and edged Taylor Fritz in a three-set semifinal on Saturday at Monte-Carlo.
Photo Source: TTV
Taylor Fritz’s bid to become the first American finalist at Monte-Carlo in 31 years was halted by Andrey Rublev on a dreary Saturday, the Russian coming through in a match that was delayed for nearly two hours, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.
Fifth-seeded Rublev reached his second Monte-Carlo final in three years – the Russian, who snapped a three-match losing streak against Fritz, will face either Jannik Sinner or Holger Rune in the final.
Fritz, who earned his first Top 10 win on clay on Friday when he took out two-time defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, took the play to Rublev early, winning a seesaw opening set that featured seven breaks of serve.
But the American’s struggles on serve continued as he ended up facing a total of 21 break points on the afternoon. Rublev would manage eight breaks of serve and pull away in the deciding set after the pair returned from a prolonged rain delay. He won three of the final four games to book his 17th win of the season and improve to 10-5 overall at Monte-Carlo.
Fritz struck 25 winners against 48 unforced errors in the contest; Rublev hit 27 winners and committed 35 unforced errors.
The conditions were not great for aggressive, first-strike tennis, Fritz later said.
“I just think the conditions in general were tough,” he said. “It was super cold. People probably don't realize how big of a difference it can make. I felt like the ball compared to yesterday just wasn't really going anywhere, so we were playing much longer points.
“It was much tougher to finish a point and a lot of times kind of taking a chance or like being aggressive on a shot that you maybe want to go for. The risk isn't worth the reward because of how much slower the conditions were making it play. … I felt like a lot of times I was forced to play just a bit more safe than I would have liked.”
Fritz didn't become the first American to play the Monte-Carlo final since Aaron Krickstien in 1992, but the 25-year-old still managed to become the first American to reach the semifinals in Monte-Carlo since Vince Spadea in 2003. It’s a great start to the clay season for the World No.10.
“If you want to be one of the best players in the world, you really do have to perform on all surfaces,” he said.
Rublev continues to excel on clay. He improves to 52-29 on the clay for his career – the 25-year-old will bid for his fourth clay court title and 13th overall on Sunday.