ATP Lyon: Auger-Aliassime, Fritz, Paire and Basilashvili stay on title run
Competing on clay for the seventh straight week, the 21-year-old American Taylor Fritz has found the rhythm on the slowest surface, beating Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and four minutes for the first semi-final since Chengdu last year. This was one of the best performances from Taylor on dirt, firing 16 aces and never facing a break point, taming his shots nicely and delivering one break in sets two and three to stay in the title hunt. The Spaniard saved three break points in the opening set and saved a set point at 5-6 in the tie break with a forehand crosscourt winner right after the serve. Serving at 6-7, Fritz hit a forced error from the backhand wing to hand the opener to his rival despite having more chances, staying focused and believing in his shots.
With high first serve percentages for both players in set number two, the returners won only 12 points and there was only one break point up for grabs for Taylor in the second game. He converted it with a forehand winner and lost just five points in his games, bringing the set home with three winners in game nine for a 6-3 and the momentum ahead of the decider. There, the returners barely took a point in the first eight games and that all changed in game nine when Roberto hit a double fault to give serve away, allowing Fritz to seal the deal with four winners in the next game, moving over the top with a beautiful backhand down the line winner to march into the last four. The top seed Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated 2017 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 21 minutes for the first semi-final in more than seven months!
The Georgian played against two break points, losing serve once and earning three breaks to control the scoreboard, two in the opening set and one more at 1-1 in the second that propelled him over the finish line. Another Frenchman Benoit Paire barely escaped the defeat against the 3rd seed Denis Shapovalov, prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 after an hour and 55 minutes, taking just four points more than the Canadian. There were only eight break points in the entire encounter and Benoit saved four out of five, bouncing back in set number two and delivering two breaks from just three opportunities to advance into the semis. Everything worked well for the home player in the first set, breaking in games five and nine for a 6-3. The fast and fluid second set lasted for some 30 minutes and we saw nine easy holds on both sides and a break at love for Denis at 2-2 after a backhand return winner.
The youngster lost six points in five service games, offering Paire nothing to work with on the return and clinching it with a hold at 15 in game ten for a 6-4. Shapovalov was the better player in the first stage of the decider as well but he wasted three break points against the rival who found the range after that to set up a tie break that, with Paire taking a tie break 7-4 when his forehand return winner landed in. The 4th seed and another young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime is through to the third semi-final in 2019 and the second on clay, taking down Steve Johnson 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in an hour and 59 minutes, firing 11 aces and giving away only 17 points in 14 service games. The American drew three breaks from that although that wasn't enough to keep him safe, playing against seven break points and getting broken three times to keep an 18-year-old on the title trail.
Super talented Canadian lost three points in the opening set, earning a break in game three and bringing it home with three good serves at 5-4. Johnson took charge in set number two with breaks in games two and eighth before Auger-Aliassime responded with even stronger performance in the decider, forging a 5-1 advantage with two commanding breaks in games three and five. Steve pulled one break back at 2-5 before Felix completed the victory with a forehand drive-volley winner in the tenth game to propel him into the semi-final and move two wins away from the maiden title.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2K0r68O
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