Taylor Fritz to play Rafael Nadal in his first Masters final appearance after stunning Andrey Rublev at Indian Wells
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Updated 20/03/2022 at 09:35 GMT
Taylor Fritz has reached the Indian Wells final where he will play Rafael Nadal after beating Russia's Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Rublev's emotions almost got the better of him at the end of the first test in the California desert before Fritz capped off a convincing victory. Fritz is bidding to become the first American man to lift the Indian Wells trophy since Andre Agassi in 2001.
Highlights: Fritz stuns Rublev to reach Indian Wells final
Taylor Fritz is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 final after beating Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-4 at the Indian Wells semi-final.
The world No. 20 overcame the Russian in one hour and 47 minutes to end the world No. 7's 13-match winning streak.
Fritz is the first American man in an Indian Wells final since 2012 and will face 21-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, who beat Carlos Alcaraz in a three-set thriller later in the day, in what will be the biggest match of his career.
"It's just unreal, really," Fritz said after the match.
"It doesn't even seem real. I'm just trying to take in the moment, regroup and come back tomorrow for the final, but it's a dream come true.
"Today I definitely played my best match of the tournament so far. I was so much more aggressive from the ground and so much more solid [with] my groundstrokes, whereas [in] other matches I was maybe playing a bit safer," Fritz said.
"I really tried to take it to him and impose my game today. I did it well, so that helped a lot."
It was evident from the early stages that the match would be won at the baseline and it was Rublev who was making more unforced errors.
The 24-year-old was clearly affected by the partisan crowd inside Stadium 1. Although he recovered to save eight of the 11 break points he faced, but the seventh seed could not handle Fritz's power who take the opener in one hour.
Rublev was furious with himself, smacking a ball into the air before punching his racquet's stringbed. It saw the 10-time ATP Tour titlist draw blood and forced a medical timeout.
Fritz was able to hold his nerve in the second set, saving two break points at 4-4 before attempting to wrap up the match on Rublev's serve.
The last game saw one of the points of the tournament as Rublev produced a remarkable reflex volley at the net.
But he then missed an easy forehand and Fritz converted his first match point with a vicious return of serve.
Fritz's thanked the vocal support for him after the match.
"It's amazing," he said.
"Just the support I got today, the crowd was so amazing and they really pushed me on.
"I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't have all the support here, so thank you."
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