Taylor Fritz still in great form, gets another top 10 win and beats Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6(2) to reach the last 16 in Paris. Rublev is looking like someone who needs holidays, but he still got two big tournaments in 2021...
Taylor Fritz is playing some of the best tennis he has played all year long and the American does not seem willing to slow down. Tody he faced 5th seed Andrey Rublev in Paris and in a very tightly contested match it was Fritz who proved better. Rublev arrived in Paris with shaky form having not shown a high level in many of the past events he played.
He was solid today but yet it was not enough. The key in this match came down to mostly a few points as the players were so similar and not far apart. Fritz won only 4 points more than Rublev but those wins came in crucial moments. From the start of the match, it was evident that this won't be a much win many break points. Neither player allowed much early and the score was mostly level.
The first break point in the match came at 6-5 for Fritz and he took it to win the opening set with 7-5. At the start of the 2nd set Rublev carved out his first break point but he failed to convert and Fritz held on. Rublev would not see a break point again in the whole match with the 2nd set being decided in the tiebreak.
There, Fritz proved simply better playing sharper tennis and committing fewer errors. Rublev allowed his emotions to get the better of him breaking his racquet which earned him a point penalty. In the end, Fritz closed it out with 7-2 in the tiebreak. Interestingly, Rublev had a better winning percentage on both his first serve and 2nd serve yet he lost.
Taylor Fritz still in great form, gets another top 10 win and beats Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6(2) to reach the last 16 in Paris. Rublev is looking like someone who needs holidays, but he still got two big tournaments in 2021...