It will be a rematch of a 2018 NextGen ATP Finals contest when Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur battle for the BB&T Atlanta Open title on Sunday.
The two rising stars have faced each other twice before, but never on the main tour. De Minaur has won each of their previous encounters, 6-4, 7-6(4) on the grass of the Surbiton Challenger last summer and 4-3, 4-1, 4-2 in the unusual NextGen format on the indoor hard courts of Milan.
Those results can be partly explained by de Minaur’s rise coinciding with what was a bit of a “sophomore slump” for Fritz. The 21-year-old American, however, has certainly righted the ship this season. Fritz captured his first career ATP title last month in Eastbourne and now finds himself in a second consecutive 250-point final thanks to victories over Kevin King, Miomir Kecmanovic, and Cameron Norrie.
“I’m playing way better from the last two times we played,” the world No. 32 said. “This court bounces a lot higher and faster. It’s gonna help me serve, return, get the ball up…. Ranking-wise we’re two of the best guys under 22 That’s going to be an exciting match and I’m sure we’ll see each other a lot in the future.”
That future is now after de Minaur also survived a three-setter on Saturday, beating Reilly Opelka 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3. The 20-year-old Australian preceded that success with more routine defeats of Bradley Klahn and Bernard Tomic (via second-set retirement).
“Incredibly tough,” de Minaur said of the upcoming matchup. “Fritz has got some of the best firepower on tour.”
But De Minaur just faced another huge hitter in Opelka and dealt with that situation incredibly well. The No. 4 seed also has not stared down a single break point in this entire tournament and he won 45 of 47 first-serve points against Opelka. Such efficiency may make the different in what will likely be an entertaining, competitive three-setter.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
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Fritz in 3
De Minaur in 3(60%) and Fritz in 3(40%)
Deminaur grinds out a win with better movement and consistency. Fritz with home crowd support and big serve will win one set atleast and stay in the match until the end of the 3rd set. But this will be a close match as they know each others game well having played twice already. may the best man win! Like the over 22.5
Demon in 2.
Fritz in three
Oh no, Big AL 😀
My poor bracket needs the young Australian to beat Fritz in 3. Should be a good match. But Fritz will have more support. Also expect Demon to chase a lot of balls down and make Fritz run too. We’ll see. I like both. But I think Demon has more fight.