Frances Tiafoe in action at the 2023 Australian Open
Good friends, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe square off in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Mexican Open on Thursday.
The world No. 5 has made it to his third consecutive quarterfinal. He has been in sparkling form this season. In the round of 32, Fritz took on American veteran John Isner. After dropping the first set, Fritz came back strongly to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In the round of 16, Fritz produced a solid display to get the better of Denis Shapovalov. The 3rd-seeded Fritz had an impressive win percentage of 97 on the first serve and converted 3 out of 5 break points. The match ended in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in favor of Fritz. He also smashed 7 aces in the encounter.
The 25-year-old has reached his second consecutive quarterfinal. He was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Dallas Open last month by J.J. Wolf. Tiafoe would hope to go deeper in the Mexican Open. In the first round, he had to dig deep to beat Japanese No. 1 Yoshihito Nishioka in two competitive sets 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.
Tiafoe went on to face Feliciano Lopez in the round of 16. The 6th-seeded Tiafoe had to contend with a fine display of serving from the Spaniard. Eventually, the match finished 6-2, 7-6 (8-6). Tiafoe managed to convert 2 out of 3 break points in the encounter.
Taylor Fritz has a comfortable 5-1 lead in the head-to-head scoreline against Frances Tiafoe. Their most recent encounter was in the 2022 Japan Open final which Fritz won in two competitive sets 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).
Prediction: Taylor Fritz to win in three sets.
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