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‘Had to tell myself you can’t let it happen again’ – says Taylor Fritz after Shapovalov revenge


Taylor Fritz is through to the semi-finals of the Qatar Open after coming from a set down to beat Denis Shapovalov.

After losing a tight first set 5-7, the 23-year-old American took the second set 6-3. The world No. 33 then carried his momentum into the third set – where he broke his Canadian opponent in the opening game.

Fritz served for the match at 5-4 but was broken after having two match points from 40-15, raising memories of the pair’s meeting at the US Open last year. There, Shapovalov won in five sets after Fritz served for the match in the fourth set.

This time, though, the American broke the world No. 11 in the next game, before closing out the deciding set 7-5.

When asked how important the victory was in his on-court interview, Fritz said: “Huge, the feeling of not serving out that 5-4 game, 40-15 – that really took a lot out of me and put me down because obviously it’s like so much what happened last time we played.

“So, i just had to tell myself mentally you can’t let it happen again. I just didn’t want to lose again on the same situation as last time, so I just had to push a little bit harder.

“I’m feeling good, I’ve had a lot of court time, a lot of close wins. The most important thing for my game is winning the big points and kind of coming through under pressure.

“I’ve done a pretty good job of that throughout the first three rounds of this tournament so I’ve just got to keep it going.”

Fritz will face either Roger Federer or Nikoloz Basilashvili in the last four in Doha.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.