Taylor Fritz squandered six match points in the second set of his Miami Open quarterfinal showdown against Matteo Berrettini on Thursday night but recovered to win 7-5, 6-7(7), 7-5 after two hours and 44 minutes.
Fritz had two match points with Berrettini serving at 5-6, three more from 6-3 up in the ensuing tiebreaker, and another one at 7-6. The Italian saved many of them with incredibly clutch play, although Fritz also erred on a couple of chances with errors that barely missed.
“There [are] two options,” the fourth-ranked American explained. “Get frustrated, lose, and then be even more frustrated about all the chances I blew, or regroup and get the win. Now I can sleep tonight and not be so mad at the chances I blew.
“It was tough. I kept trying to tell myself that he played well and it’s not as much on me, so try not to get frustrated. I think my best looks there I had three match points seeing a second serve from him. I think I really have to win one of those.”
He didn’t, but Fritz did win the big points at the end of both sets one and three.
His reward is a semifinal meeting with Jakub Mensik, who defeated Arthur Fils in straight sets. The other semifinal on Friday pits Novak Djokovic against Grigor Dimitrov.
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