DELRAY BEACH, February 15, 2024
US-American Taylor Fritz enjoyed a good start to his Delray Beach Open title defence on Wednesday evening when he edged past in-form Portuguese Nuno Borges 7-6(5), 6-4 in his opening match in the second round of the ATP 250 tournament.
The top seed of the hard-court event in Florida fired 14 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 32 minutes.
The top seed is through to the final 8 in Delray Beach 🔥@Taylor_Fritz97 dismisses Borges 7-6(5) 6-4.@DelrayBeachOpen | #DBOpen pic.twitter.com/s5G8CvHVsO
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 15, 2024
“The crowd was amazing. It’s one of my favourite things coming back to Delray every year. The crowd really shows up here, they love the tennis and I feel like I get a lot of support here, so it’s great,” said Fritz, who dropped just one set en route to the Delray Beach Open title last year.“
“Last year I came in with like no expectations at all. I’d played the tournament like six times, had never won more than a match here, so I wasn’t expecting much and I think that’s a good mindset to have. It allowed me to win the title. So, I’m trying my best to approach it the same,” the World No. 9 said.
Fritz will take on Rinki Hijikata in the quarterfinals. The 22-year-old Australian fought past No. 6 seed Matteo Arnaldi 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 31 minutes.
Also in the top half of the draw, local wild card entry Patrick Kypson defeated Frenchman Constant Lestienne 6-4, 6-4 to reach the stage of the final eight at an ATP Tour event for the first time.
The 24-year-old from North Carolina converted four of his seven break points and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points to move on.
Kypson will next challenge last week’s Dallas Open finalist Marcos Giron from the United States, who beat Adrian Mannarino of France for the second week in a row, winning 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-1. The encounter lasted two hours and four minutes.
