Fritz sets up Djokovic semifinal

TURIN, Italy: American Taylor Fritz outlasted Felix Auger-Aliassime in three sets and Rafael Nadal avoided matching his worst ever losing sequence with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Norway’s Casper Ruud in round-robin play at the ATP Finals on Thursday.

In a clash of tournament debutantes neither Fritz nor Auger-Aliassime could make inroads on the other’s serve but in the first set tie-breaker, the Canadian’s normally solid backhand began to misfire and a forehand error put Fritz out ahead.

The players remained on serve in the second to bring about another breaker that Fritz appeared to have in hand while leading 4-2.

But an errant ball toss produced Fritz’s first double fault and shifted momentum in favour of Auger-Aliassime, who pumped his fist after slapping a crosscourt winner to force a deciding set.

The key game of the match came with Fritz leading 3-2 in the third when he finally got his first looks at break points, converting his fourth opportunity when Auger-Aliassime pulled a forehand wide.

Fritz rolled from there, holding to love to consolidate the break and jumping in the air when Auger-Aliassime pushed a backhand out on match point, his 36th unforced error.

“It was tough, no one really had any chances early on,” Fritz said after his 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 win.

“I had to just not get frustrated, had to reset. I felt going into the third that a break was coming.”

Fritz will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Nadal had already been eliminated from semifinal contention when he walked on court in Turin after back-to-back straight-set defeats in the Green Group by Fritz and Auger-Aliassime.

But the Spaniard was clearly eager not to end a season that began in such spectacular fashion by succumbing to a fifth successive defeat — something the 36-year-old had not experienced since before his career took off in 2004-05.

The first set was full of intensity inside the Pala Alpitour where the afternoon crowd were firmly behind Nadal.

Nadal fought off two break points at 4-4 in the opening set as Ruud threatened but after that the Mallorcan found the range on his forehand.

The 23-year-old Ruud went down 0-40 on serve at 5-6 and world number two Nadal needed just one chance to seal the set, punching away a volley into an empty court.

It was a similar story in the second set with nothing between the players until Nadal pounced again in the 12th game.

Ruud saved one match point but Nadal clubbed away a backhand winner to finish his season on a high.

“I’ve been practising well but just not had enough matches to be at the level I need to be, not enough confidence after six tough months,” Nadal said.

“At least I finished with a positive victory which is important.”

Ruud still advanced to the semifinals but is now 0-8 against opponents ranked in the top three. — Reuters

ATP Finals standings

Standings from the ATP Tour Finals in Turin after Thursday’s matches (played, wins, losses, sets won, sets lost, games won, games lost):

Red Group

1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 2 2 0 4 0 25 15 Q

2. Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) 2 1 1 2 3 29 29

3. Andrey Rublev 2 1 1 2 3 24 28

4. Danill Medvedev 2 0 2 2 4 32 38

Green Group

1. Casper Ruud (NOR) 3 2 1 4 3 40 39 Q

2. Taylor Fritz (USA) 3 2 1 5 3 47 39 Q

3. Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 3 1 2 3 4 37 39

4. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 3 1 2 2 4 28 55