"It's just unreal, really" - says Fritz after reaching Indian Wells final

The 20th seed reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final on Saturday when he defeated seventh seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4.

Fritz, a California native, is the first man from his country to make the Indian Wells championship match since John Isner in 2012. When the American arrived in the desert for last October’s edition, he had never advanced to an ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. In 2021 he reached the semi-finals, and now he is 9-1 at Indian Wells in the past six months, including a 3-0 record against Top 10 opponents.

He said:

"It's just unreal, really. It doesn't even seem real. I'm just trying to take in the moment, regroup and come back tomorrow for the final. But it's a dream come true."

He further added:

"Today I definitely played my best match of the tournament so far. I was so much more aggressive from the ground and so much more solid [with] my groundstrokes, whereas [in] other matches I was maybe playing a bit safer. I really tried to take it to him and impose my game today. I did it well, so that helped a lot."

He thanked the crowd as well:

"It's amazing. Just the support I got today, the crowd was so amazing and they really pushed me on. I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't have all the support here, so thank you."