Taylor Fritz kickstarted his pursuit of a three-peat at the Delray Beach Open on Thursday when the top seed downed Buyunchaokete 7-6(4), 6-2.
Amidst humid south Florida conditions, the American relied on aggressive, first-strike tennis to book his place in the quarter-finals at the ATP 250. Fritz held two set points on return at 5-4 in the opener, but was pushed to a tie-break, during which he converted his fifth set point.
Fritz rode his momentum, breaking the 23-year-old’s serve in the opening game of the second set, followed by a hold of his own to love. The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings earned a double-break lead midway through the second set, producing a deft forehand dropper in that game and raising his hands as if he was asking for more support from his home crowd. Fritz dropped just one point behind his serve in the second set (16/17).
"I'm super happy to get it done. He was playing really well, super tough first set," said Fritz, who struck 41 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats. "It's good to come out and get a high level second-round match."
Up next for Fritz is eighth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who overcame Mackenzie McDonald 6-2, 5-7, 6-0. Despite the lopsided score in the decider, the Spaniard was forced to work hard until the end, converting his sixth match point across an eight-deuce game at 5-0.
Fritz boasts a 12-5 tournament record and is aiming to become the first man born in 1991 or later to three-peat at an ATP Tour event.
"I don't think it's that much of a coincidence that the tournament I've won two times in a row is also the tournament where I can stay at my own place, drive up to," Fritz said. "It's great to be here. A lot of great memories and a lot of confidence playing on this court."
Davidovich Fokina leads Fritz 2-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with both of his wins coming on clay. Fritz won their most recent encounter in 2022 at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris.
Brandon Nakashima rallied past Reilly Opelka 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. The 23-year-old Nakashima went toe to tie on serve with Opelka, striking 14 aces, just three less than his 6'11" countryman. In blustery afternoon conditions, the sixth seed won 84 per cent of his first-serve points compared to Opelka’s 72 per cent, and committed 16 unforced errors while the 27-year-old tallied 51.
Nakashima is two victories shy of earning his 100th tour-level match win. Into the quarters, Nakashima will face Matteo Arnaldi, who survived a two-hour, 49-minute marathon against Learner Tien 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(1). The Italian hammered 24 aces and fended off 10 of the 14 break points he faced in a thrilling clash.
