For the first 90 minutes, or thereabouts, of Taylor Fritz’s quarterfinal match against Matteo Berrettini at the Miami Open on Thursday night, it looked as thought the U.S. No. 1 was going to have an uncomplicated path through to a much sought-after semifinal berth at Hard Rock Stadium.
More than an hour later, Frtiz’s route to his first-ever Miami semifinal got a lot more scenic, even if there was no change to his final destination.
More than 70 minutes passed between Fritz’s first six match points, and the one he finally converted in a 7-5, 6-7(7), 7-5 affair that lasted two hours and 44 minutes, his fifth win in five matches against Berrettini. Fritz had three consecutive match points leading 6-3 in the second-set tiebreak, after earlier having two on Berrettini’s serve when returning ahead 6-5.
But the Italian saved them all, with some big forehands off the ground combining with a few missed opportunities by Fritz to make Berrettini pay off of second serves.
