By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday February 17, 2024
Tommy Paul blitzed Frances Tiafoe to set a final with 2023 Delray champion Taylor Fritz on Sunday.
There was plenty to celebrate for American tennis fans on Saturday in Delray Beach, as the semifinal lineup was an all-American affair for the first time in tournament history, and just the fourth time at an ATP event since 2000.
By the end of a long day of tennis, it was only Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz who had cause to celebrate, as the No.3 seed and top seed each came through in straight sets to book a fifth head-to-head meeting for the Delray Beach Open title on Sunday.
Paul was up first, and he wasted little time in jumping ahead of 2018 champion Frances Tiafoe. Paul struck early and often and never took his foot of the gas as he handed Foe a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing to stretch his winning streak to seven victories.
Last week’s champion in Dallas, Paul will bid for his third ATP title on Sunday against the top seed and defending champion Fritz.
Fritz continued his impressive run on Saturday evening, easing past unseeded Marcos Giron 7-6(8), 6-3 to book a spot in his 12th ATP final. 26-year-old Fritz is the first player to reach back-to-back finals at Delray Beach since James Blake in 2007-2008 and he’ll bid for his seventh title.
Giron, who reached back-to-back semifinals for the first time, had a set point in the tiebreak, but Fritz came up big to squelch the threat and convert his third set point to open the door to victory.
“I was up in the first, I was playing well,” Fritz said after the win. “I missed some chances later on in the set but I felt like [Marcos] played all those points really well, so I didn’t let it bother me too much. “He played a lot of good points, on a lot of big points, and it was really frustrating, but I always came back, especially in the tiebreak, and just kept playing well on the big points and I didn’t get frustrated.”
He broke Giron three times in the second set as he pulled away from Giron to notch his seventh consecutive win at Delray Beach.
Paul and Fritz have split four meetings at ATP level, with Paul winning a grueling three hour and 26-minute battle against Fritz in their last meeting, at Acapulco in 2023.
They also have history that dates back to their junior days. Fritz and Paul split two junior Grand Slam finals in 2015, with Paul winning at Roland-Garros and Fritz winning at the US Open.
Fritz and Paul will play the fourth all-American final in Delray Beach Open history, and the first since 2016.