A 32-shot rally at 4-4 in the tie-break decided the night
Fourteen aces in one set, and Taylor Fritz still lost it.
Brandon Nakashima beat him 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3 on Friday night in Mason, Ohio, and the 27th seed is into the Cincinnati Open semi-finals a week after making his first Masters 1000 final in Montreal. Back-to-back runs this deep at this level are new territory for him.
That first set was an arm wrestle. Fritz, seeded sixth, dropped three points behind his first serve across the whole thing. Nakashima never got near a break, just refused to go away. At 4-4 in the tie-break came a 32-shot rally that changed the temperature of the match. Fritz held a set point at 7-6. Nakashima saved it, then took the set 11-9 on his fifth attempt.
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Down 3-2 in the decider, then four games without reply
Fritz found the only break of the second set and carried it into the third, moving 3-2 up with serve in hand. Nakashima did not lose another game. Break back, hold, break again for 5-3, serve it out.
“Against Fritz in Washington, I felt like I was struggling from the baseline,” he said. “Today, I tried to hit my forehand a bit harder and stay solid on the backhand. That’s what got me through.”
Fritz still leads the head-to-head 4-2. Nakashima has now avenged two of those losses inside six months, Dallas in February and the Washington semis earlier this month. His 22 hard-court wins this season are the most on tour. He arrived in Cincinnati at a career-high 22nd and sits 16th in the live rankings.
Tiafoe next, and the record reads 6-1
The semi-final is all-American. Frances Tiafoe, the 17th seed, got past Lorenzo Musetti 7-6 (2), 7-5 later in the evening on a stat sheet that swung wildly in both directions: 36 winners to the Italian’s 17, and 38 unforced errors to 22.
“You’ve just got to play to win,” Tiafoe said. “We’re all looking for that extra 1%. The guy who takes a few more risks in the big moments gets it back.”
The Maryland man won Halle this summer for his fourth ATP title and holds a 6-1 edge over Nakashima. Their one meeting this season, the Acapulco semis, went the distance and went Tiafoe’s way.
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