From one all-California showdown to another….
Rancho Santa Fe’s Taylor Fritz saved one match point to battle past Laguna Hills’ Alex Michelsen 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6) on quarterfinal Friday at the Mubadala DC Open, and his reward is a matchup with San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima on Saturday.
Fritz and Nakashima will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers, with Fritz leading the head-to-head series 3-1. However, Nakashima won their most recent outdoor hard-court contest 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) at the 2024 Cincinnati Masters and he was also competitive on his fellow American’s grass-court stomping grounds at Wimbledon in 2021 (Fritz won 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5).
Fritz preceded his thriller against Michelsen with straight-set victories over Zizou Bergs and Kamil Majchrzak. Although the results are encouraging, the world No. 10’s knee tendinitis appeared to flare up again on Friday — putting his status in doubt for the semis. Nakashima, meanwhile, secured his spot in the last four with defeats of Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Jakub Mensik, and Alex de Minaur. The world No. 33 is in outstanding form in front of what is a borderline home crowd, having played his college tennis at nearby University of Virginia.
Unless Fritz wins this one quickly (which does not seem likely), Nakashima should have the physical edge.
Pick: Nakashima in 3
WWW?
Fritz in 2.
fritzi is verletzt ko, geben wir den Sieg zum Chinesen mit den Schlitz Augen (2.40)
If Fritz is 100%, he wins….but if he’s not, Naka in 3