Taylor Fritz reveals what he and Reilly Opelka were doing prior to Atlanta clash

American tennis star Taylor Fritz revealed he and fellow compatriot Reilly Opelka talked the morning before their match and had lots of fun.

Fritz, ranked at No. 42 in the world, beat his close friend Opelka 7-6 (5) 6-7 (3) 7-6 (4) to reach the Atlanta Open semifinal.

“We had plans to have dinner last night, and we were talking all day this morning before the match,” Fritz said of playing good friend Opelka, as quoted on the ATP website. “It’s all love… We know we’re going to play each other so many more times. We’re normal before the match too, making jokes going down in the elevator heading down to the courts before the match, and then we go back to normal after the match.”

Fritz edged out Opelka 

Fritz had the lone break point of the first set in the seventh game but failed to convert. 

In the first set tie-break, Opelka was up 3-2 after the opening five points but then Fritz won four consecutive points to take a 6-3 lead. 

Opelka saved two consecutive set points but couldn't save the third as Fritz won a tight opener. 

Fritz had two consecutive match points in the 12th game of the second set but Opelka saved to force a tie-break. 

After saving two consecutive set points in the 12th game, Opelka took an early 3-0 lead before realizing his second set point to force a decider. 

After losing the second set, Fritz had a chance to start the third set with a break but he failed to convert a break point in the opening game of the third set. 

As not a single break point was seen in the rest of the set, the match went into a third tie-break. 

In the third set tie-break, Fritz realized his third match point to progress into the Atlanta semifinal. 

In 2019, Fritz ended runner-up to Alex de Minaur in the Atlanta final. 

Fritz is now aiming to go a step further and win it all in Atlanta. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3C3henl