Not surprisingly, the final four at the Delray Beach Open are American with the top two seeds, respectively Taylor Fritz , the defending champion and Frances Tiafoe, now set to meet in Sunday’s final.
The event will be the first all-American semi-final in the tournament’s history and the fourth on the tour since 2000.
For second seeded Tiafoe, Saturday will also see him play his first semi-final of the season after comfortably taking down Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, a qualifier, 6-4 6-2 in just 68-minutes.
The American was solid both on serve and off the baseline as he broke his run of five consecutive quarter final losses.
“Overall, I thought I played well. I thought I served much better today,” Tiafoe said. “He’s played a lot of matches going through qualies, so I definitely wanted to get on him early and make it tough for him. I’m really happy with my performance today and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
The 26-year-old will next meet countryman Tommy Paul, the third seed, who holds a 2-1 lead over him from their previous encounters.
Paul, who last week won the Dallas Open, defeated Australian Jordan Thomspon 6-4 6-3 to extend his current winning run to six matches.
“I thought I kept it cool today and held my own on my serve, I think that was really important,” Paul said of his performance.
Meanwhile Fritz made it through after dispatching Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 6-3 6-3 to complete Friday’s play and the semi-final line-up.
Fritz needed five set points to pocket the opening set as he dominated the Aussie off the baseline with a very positive performance over 74-minutes.
“It’s always a great feeling to just be so into the serve rhythm,” Fritz, who did not face a break point all match, commented. “The quality of the serves I was hitting was also good, so that’s an added bonus to a high percentage.”
Fritz will next meet fellow California native Marcus Giron, who overcame fellow American Patrick Kypson 6-4 6-4 to earn his second consecutive semi-final appearance, having finished runner-up in Dallas last week.
Frances Tiafoe will provide a strong challenge
(Photo by Will Murray/Getty Images)
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