By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Taylor Fritz saved all 11 break points he faced defeating Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-7(11), 6-1 to reach his first Rome quarterfinal.
Photo credit: Dan Istitene/Getty
Clay-court season has been a slippery slope for American men.
A defiant Taylor Fritz continues his dirt rise with rousing rebranding.
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Fritz fought off all 11 break points he faced fighting off Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-7(11), 6-1 to reach his first Rome quarterfinal—and make American clay-court history.
The man who grew up on California hard courts is the first American to reach quarterfinals at three different clay court ATP Masters 1000 events: 2022-23 Monte-Carlo, 2024 Madrid and now Rome.
"Yeah, that's a really cool stat. I think for me, I've kind of committed to this clay court swing, playing all the events, for a long time," Fritz told the media in Rome. "I think the generation before me, a lot of the Americans wouldn't want to play the whole swing or they skip Monte-Carlo, whatever.
"For me, clay season's a huge part of the season. It's three Masters, some other tournaments, and a Grand Slam.
"How can I ever be a top player that I want to be if I can't produce some results during the clay season? 'Cause, like, I'm not that good where I'm going to dominate everywhere else. I always thought, like, if I want to be a Top-10 player, I need to be putting results in on clay."
Just call him Claylor.
It is Fritz’s 50th Tour-level quarterfinal and it was one wild ride to reach it. Fritz saved set points serving at 4-5 and 5-6 of the second set to force the tiebreaker. Dimitrov, who betrayed his own cause with 11 double faults, including three doubles in one game, showed his grit battling through a second set dripping with drama and excitement.
World No. 10 Dimitrov, who was seeking his first Top 20 clay-court win since defeating Fritz in the 2023 Geneva semifinals, made a gritty stand saving a match point at 7-8 in the tiebreaker and withstanding the deep disappointment of missed break points to prevail in a dizzying 19-and-a-half minute tiebreaker.
At that point, Dimitrov, who was playing with heavy taping around his left wrist that left him unable to remove a wristband at one point, had all the momentum.
Fritz played an overwhelming final set.
Clad completely in black with his brand “Boss’” logo in white, Fritz played ruthless red-clay dictator in the decider. Fritz won 16 of 17 service points in the final set capping a physical two hour, nine-minute victory firing his 13th ace.
After a phenomenal fight, Fritz made his mark on both American tennis history and the court-side camera signing off with his new nickname: “Claylor.”
Though Fritz is still seeking his first clay-court title, he showed clay-court prowess last year dethroning defending Monte-Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-4, to reach the Monte-Carlo semifinals. Fritz became the first American to reach the Monte-Carlo semifinals since noted Break Point author Vince "Spadea Ain't Afraid of Ya" Spadea made the final four in 2003.
Today, the 26-year-old Fritz broke in the third game and saved break points confirming for 3-1 lead en route to taking a one-set lead.
Applying his short backhand slice to try to lure the American forward, Dimitrov began landing more forehand strikes in the second set.
The former world No. 3 earned set point at 5-4 on Fritz’s serve, but the Munich finalist fought it off.
In the 12th game, Fritz thumped a smash to save a second break point. By then, the Delray Beach champion had fended off all 11 break points he faced in the match.
Dimitrov drove a forehand down the line behind Fritz for the mini break and a 2-0 tiebreaker lead.
When the Bulgarian missed a forehand, Fritz regained the mini-break for 2-3.
An exceptional running forehand lob set up a Dimitrov drop volley winner for another mini break and 4-2.
Two more fine touch volley winners put Dimitrov ahead 6-3 with three more set points.
The man in black fired a wide serve to erase a third set point.
This time, Fritz conjured drop-shot brilliance of his own finding the sideline to fend off a fourth set point.
On his fifth set point, Dimitrov double faulted—his first of the set—to drop to 6-all.
Continuing to press forward, Dimitrov dabbed another drop volley for a seventh set point only to see Fritz catch the baseline to deny it.
On a second serve, Dimitrov dodged match point when Fritz’s return missed the mark. Dimitrov set up a seventh set point, but shoveled an open forehand pass just wide to drop to 9-9.
It was a tough call but it was just out,” the chair umpire said.
“No, no, no,” Dimitrov said while leaning his head against the base of the chair umpire’ seat in disbelief.
Fritz felt the tension with his first double fault to face an eighth set point at 10-9. Dimitrov dumped a slice into net and it was 10-all as the tiebreaker moved past 16 minutes.
Fighting off a ninth set point, Fritz spun a backhand down the line for 11-11.
Undaunted, Dimitrov drilled a forehand down the line, finally converting his 10th set point to end a gripping 19-and-a-half-minute tiebreaker take the set.
Unleashing all the emotion, Dimitrov screamed toward his box and threw a big uppercut forcing a decider after two hours, nine minutes of high quality play.
After about a seven-minute bathroom break, Fritz returned recharged and Dimitrov hit the wall.
"The one thing that was bothering me was the backhand second serve match point. I mean, I have to make that return, at the very least put it in the court," Fritz told the media in Rome. "That was definitely something I could just, like, keep thinking about.
"Yeah, I put it behind me and kind of accepted, Look, if I keep thinking about this and letting it bother me, all the things I could have done, should have done on that point with that shot, I'm probably going to just lose focus, play a bad game and lose the match.
"I just moved on, forgot about it."
Smacking his forehand with menacing intent, Fritz converted his fourth break point to break for a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Landing first serves, Fritz won 12 of the first 13 points played on his serve, powering out to a 4-1 third-set lead.
A weary Dimitrov came undone trying to shorten points. Scattering a cluster of three double faults, Dimitrov was down break points. Fritz slammed a forehand breaking again for 5-1.
Serving for the quarterfinals, Fritz opened the game with an ace and closed slashing his 13th ace to seal a hard-fought and historic win.
The 11th-seeded Fritz will face either Olympic gold-medal champion Alexander Zverev or Nuno Borges for a Rome semifinal spot.