Fritz, who saved three set points in the first set tie-break and two set points on serve at 5-6, hit 25 winners for his 21st tour-level victory of the year while making just seven unforced errors.
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In order to advance to the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday, Taylor Fritz defeated former champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6(10), 6-2, earning his 50th ATP Masters 1000 victory. The American prevailed in a match that lasted two sets after he saved five set points in a hefty first set to advance. The victory took an hour and 39 minutes. Fritz, who saved three set points in the first set tie-break and two set points on serve at 5-6, hit 25 winners for his 21st tour-level victory of the year while making just seven unforced errors.
The eighth seed defeated Jiri Lehecka, the Czech who defeated 2022 semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-4, and will look to repeat his quarterfinal performance from the Principality. Fritz made it to the quarterfinals in Miami before travelling to Monte-Carlo. In Indian Wells in 2021, he won the ATP Masters 1000 championship for the first time. Wawrinka was competing in the clay-court tournament for the thirteenth time, with his best performance being a title run in 2014.
Holger Rune is ready to go on the clay in 2023 after a successful clay season in which he won his first ATP Tour title in Munich and advanced to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. On the court, the Dane continued where he left off by defeating Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday night at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Rune is making his third appearance in Monaco and has advanced to the round of 16. Casper Ruud defeated him in the first round of his 2021 tournament debut and in the second round of the previous season’s competition. In search of his second ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal and first since winning the Rolex Paris Masters in November of last year, the 19-year-old will take on Matteo Berrettini on Thursday.
“It’s my first match back on clay so there were a few adjustments to make. But I’m all in all happy with how I handled the situation on court,” Rune said as per the official ATP website. “Dominic already played a couple of matches [on clay]. He’s a dangerous player. He can hit winners from anywhere in the court so I had to be sharp, move well and play well.”
Thiem defeated Richard Gasquet in the Monte-Carlo first round with some of his best tennis of the year, and he got off to a good start against Rune with a love hold on Court Rainier III. Beyond that, however, Rune’s Top 10 level proved to be too much for the Austrian in the lopsided opening set.
With relentless attack, the World No. 9 pinned Thiem far behind the baseline, his electric forehand doing the majority of the damage as he racked up five straight games from 1-2 to win the set. Rune finished the first set with an 80 percent win rate (28/35) behind his first delivery, winning all 14 of his first-serve points.
