Taylor Fritz was one of the biggest favourites to win the 2023 Dallas Open, but the American will need to rely on his countryman to hold his country's flag high.
After John Isner defeated J.J. Wolf in the first semifinal match, he surely thought that the first-seeded Taylor Fritz will await him in the final. However, the 25-year-old took on Yibing Wu from China, who created history in Dallas.
The match started well for Fritz. Despite facing two set points in the tenth game, he held all of his service games and had no problems with winning the tie-break, to win the first set 7-6(3).
The world no. 8 had five chances to break his opponent and seal the deal already in the second set, but he couldn't use those. On the other hand, Wu created one break point chance, and it was enough for him to get the break and win the second set 7-5.
Aware of his opponent's qualities, Fritz needed to be very patient in the third set. He got close to having break points in the fourth game, but not close enough.
In the next game, Wu got close enough, and he used his chance once again. The Chinese player would then face one more break point in the eighth game, but that wouldn't stop him from winning the match 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 34 minutes to reach his first ATP final and also become China's first man to ever reach the ATP final.
Despite the semifinal loss, Fritz can look forward to Monday, when he will rise to seventh place in the ATP Rankings, becoming the highest-ranked American since 2011.
After the match, Wu didn't hide his emotions, saying:
"When I'm playing tonight, I wasn't thinking about the score or winning or losing. I'm just trying to perform my best. You guys are amazing, cheering for us every point. Thanks, guys!"
"I remember I had two set points in the first set. I have to say I choked a little bit. That forehand, I didn't miss much, but I couldn't make it. But in general I think I'm pretty relaxed."
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