Three of the top four men’s seeds tumbled out of the Mubadala DC Open on Friday in Washington, with third-seeded Taylor Fritz the lone survivor.
Fritz eked out a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6) victory over Alex Michelsen in an all-U.S. quarterfinal. Michelsen had a match point at 6-5 in the third-set tiebreaker, but Fritz won the next three points to advance.
Another U.S. player, Brandon Nakashima, eliminated top seed and defending champion Alex de Minaur 7-6 (5), 6-4. Nakashima amassed a 10-5 edge in aces and won 83% of his first-serve points (45 of 54).
Fritz will oppose Nakashima on Saturday.
Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo came from behind to down second-seeded Ben Shelton 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Tabilo earned a semifinal clash against Rafael Jodar, who got past fourth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Mifel Tennis Open
France’s Arthur Gea needed six chances to close out the first set, but he eventually recorded a 7-6 (7), 6-3 win over Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong in the semifinals at Los Cabos, Mexico.
Gea led 5-4 in the opening set when Wong saved two set points. Gea squandered another four set points in the tiebreaker before finally prevailing.
The result sends Gea into his first career ATP Tour final. The 21-year-old is ranked 127th in the world.
Gea’s opposition on Saturday will be the winner of the late semifinal featuring fifth-seeded Cameron Norrie of Great Britain and eighth-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
–Field Level Media
