Diego Schwartzman fought a tough three-sets battle against
Taylor Fritz at the ATP Rolex
Shanghai Masters, winning the match 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Ahead of the match, Schwartzman led their head-to-head 3-1, having won their most recent meeting four years ago at the 2019 Los Cabos Open in straight sets. The 31-year-old started out strong in this match, breaking the World No. 8 in his very first service game with some quick thinking and well-angled shots.
Fritz appeared to be struggling as his opponent built up three break points in his next service game, which were converted into a double break after an unforced error from the American. After this, Fritz was finally able to fight back and aced Schwartzman to get his first hold of the match.
Fritz and Schwartzman both fight back from the brink
Although Fritz was then able to break back once, he couldn't equalize and Schwartzman soon found himself serving for the set. The Argentinian player built up three set points and successfully converted the first.
Nevertheless, Fritz came back fighting in the second set. Although his first service game went to a deuce, he avoided repeating history by holding and went on to break Schwartzman with an impressive display. He had a chance to win the set when his opponent's final service game went to a deuce but Schwartzman clung on. Fritz then successfully served for the set, building up a 40-0 lead.
At the beginning of the final set, Fritz looked ready to run away with the victory, breaking Schwartzman on his first service game and staying up a break for the majority of the set. At one point, it looked as though the 25-year-old could get a double break to win the match but Schwartzman fought to hold. Fritz then served for the set but his opponent was not finished fighting back yet.
Schwartzman turns final set on its head
After several unforced errors from Fritz, Schwartzman had three break points in an incredibly crucial game. As a result, the World No. 130 broke back and leveled the set at 5-5. Both players then held their serves to force a tiebreak.
Schwartzman got the first point of the tiebreak and looked visibly motivated. He proceeded to build up a 3-0 lead before Fritz attempted a comeback. It was ultimately too late though as Schwartzman won the tiebreak 7-5 and let out a cry of joy and relief as he advanced to the next round of the Shanghai Masters.
