Fritz reaches Eastbourne SFs, remains on track for hat-trick

Taylor Fritz continued his quest for an Eastbourne hat-trick Thursday at the Rothesay International, where the top seed ousted #NextGenATP Shang Juncheng 7-6(5), 7-6(5) to reach the semi-finals.

A two-time champion at the grass ATP 250 (2019, 2022), Fritz dropped just four points on serve (50/54) and saved all four break points he faced to advance after one hour, 46 minutes. Despite failing to convert his five break chances, the American held his nerve in two tie-breaks by relying on his first-strike tennis.

“With the wind and everything, that was a very miserable match to play, honestly,” Fritz said in relief. “I definitely feel well here. It’s tough to take too much from today. You’re never really going to feel great hitting the ball as windy as it was. But if I can serve as well as I did today, even in this wind, I’m pretty happy about that.”

Fritz in the final 4️⃣@Taylor_Fritz97 continues his dominant record in Eastbourne with a 7-6(5) 7-6(5) victory over Shang!@the_LTA | #RothesayInternational pic.twitter.com/S2zaORN6Ax

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 27, 2024

Into his fourth semi-final of the season, Fritz is aiming to be the tournament’s first three-time champion. The World No. 13 in the PIF ATP Rankings is yet to be broken this week.

The 26-year-old will face Aleksandar Vukic in the semi-finals after the Aussie’s 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) win against Yoshihito Nishioka. Fritz holds a 1-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Vukic, who the seven-time tour-level titlist defeated in the Atlanta final last year. A lucky loser, Vukic will be competing in his his first ATP Tour semi-final since that Atlanta final run. He has matched his personal-best from last season with 11 tour-level wins this year.

British wild card Billy Harris, fresh off his run to his first ATP Tour quarter-final at The Queen’s Club, has gone one better in Eastbourne by reaching the semis. The 29-year-old improved to 3-3 against Top 50 opponents with a 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-2 victory against Flavio Cobolli.

Harris claimed the only two breaks of the match in the final set and saved all three break points against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats. He is just the fifth British semi-finalist in Eastbourne tournament history, joining Greg Rusedski (six times), Tim Henman (1997), Kyle Edmund (2019) and Jack Draper (2022).

He will meet Max Purcell on Friday after the Aussie’s 6-3, 7-6(4) quarter-final victory against Miomir Kecmanovic. The qualifier is through to his second tour-level semi-final (Eastbourne 2021).

Skupski/Venus ride hot-streak to Eastbourne final

Fourth seeds Neal Skupski and Michael Venus extended their winning streak to seven after rallying past Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-8 to reach the Eastbourne final. The British-Kiwi duo last week won the ATP 500 event at Queen’s.

Skupski and Venus will face third seeds Matthew Ebden and John Peers in Friday’s title match. The Aussies also needed a Match Tie-break, overcoming Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten 6-7(11), 7-6(4), 10-5.

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