Taylor Fritz on the verge of career milestone, needs win against Shapovalov in Tokyo

American tennis star Taylor Fritz is through to the semifinals of the 2022 Japan Open after getting a walkover from Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals. With the Aussie's withdrawal from the event, the Indian Wells champion is just one win away from entering the Top 10 of the ATP Ranking for the first time.

This will be the American's third semifinal of the year, after Indian Wells and Eastbourne. He emerged victorious on both previous occasions and will be hoping to do the same in Tokyo.

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Fritz is currently ranked No. 11 in the world and needs to reach the final of the Japan Open to reach the milestone. He will face seventh seed Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals of the 2022 Japan Open.

Shapovalov was solid in his win over Borna Coric in the quarterfinals, beating him in straight sets 6-4 6-3. Though he leads 4-1 in his head-to-head against Fritz, the American has been playing some of his best tennis since returning to the court this week after his bout with COVID-19 in Seoul.

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Fritz had earlier revealed that he was feeling better than expected physically and was looking forward to giving his best in Japan.

"I'm feeling better than I thought I would be," said Fritz after his win over James Duckworth. "I don't feel amazing, but I'm really happy that I was able to go through all that and still show up and win my match."