September 1, 2024; Flushing, New York; Taylor Fritz (USA) celebrates after his match against Caspar Ruud (Norway) (not pictured) during day seven of the 2024 US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Burke-USA Today Sports No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz punched 24 aces and edged No. 8 seed Casper Rudd 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday afternoon action in New York to book his spot in the US Open quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Fritz outscored Norway 56-32 to win the title. He completed the victory in 2 hours and 44 minutes.
“I just had to stay in because I felt he outplayed me in the first set,” Fritz said. “I had a couple of chances, he had a couple of chances, and he took them.
“He did a good job and I fought really well at the start of the second quarter, got through a tight serve game and put pressure on the scoreboard. I think his level dropped a little bit then. I got more looks on my serve in the second quarter and just got through from there.”
Fritz saved five of six break points as he reached his third Grand Slam quarterfinal this year. He has never reached the semifinals of a major.
“Honestly, we’re taking it one game at a time. I think that can put more pressure on us,” Fritz said. “We came in saying we could win in 2022 and we lost in the first round. I think it’s better to take it one game at a time.”
Fritz will face either Germany’s fourth seed Alexander Zverev or fellow American Brandon Nakashima in the quarterfinals. Zverev and Nakashima also played on Sunday.
Ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Russia’s sixth seed Andrey Rublev.
The Bulgarian started fast before Rublev rallied to level the match, then finished strongly to advance to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the eighth time in his career, his second appearance at the US Open. He lost to Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals in 2019.
Dimitrov saved 13 of 18 break points and recorded 17 aces, four fewer than Rublev’s total in the three-hour, 40-minute marathon, which gave Rublev a 47-41 edge in the win.
Dimitrov will face either Australia’s 20th seed Francis Tiafoe or 28th seed Alexei Popyrin in the quarterfinals, both on Sunday night.
“I’m trying to enjoy every moment and celebrate every day that I’m here,” Dimitrov said. “I’m just focusing on myself. I’ve had a very tough few weeks physically and everything, so I want to focus on what I did well today and what I can improve on. I’m just trying to keep it as basic as possible and I’m happy to make it to the second week.”
–Field level media
