Taylor Fritz of the United States plays a forehand volley against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their men's singles quarterfinals at the ATP Indian Wells Masters in Indian Wells, U.S., October 15, 2021. /CFP
American Taylor Fritz defeated Tokyo Olympics men's tennis singles champion Alexander Zverev while Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia stunned world No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells on Friday.
Fritz defeated Zverev of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to reach the semifinals of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) event, also known as BNP Paribas Open for sponsorship reasons, in front of a hometown crowd, scoring the biggest win of his young career.
"I kept fighting," Fritz said. "The crowd pushing me on meant so much."
Alexander Zverev of Germany in action during a men's singles quarterfinal at the ATP Indian Wells Masters in Indian Wells, U.S., October 15, 2021. /CFP
Fritz was the clear favorite at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where 83-year-old Hall of Famer Rod Laver looked on. The 23-year-old son of retired Top 10 player Kathy May, grew up in the San Diego area and attended the tournament as a youngster.
He had five previous wins over Top 10 players in 2019, including No. 5 Dominic Thiem at the Laver Cup. Now, he's bagged his biggest by beating Zverev, ranked fourth in the world.
"This is the farthest I've ever been in a big tournament," said Fritz, who won his first ATP Tour title at Eastbourne in 2019. "It's easily the best win of my life, against a really tough opponent on arguably the biggest match I could possibly play, so it's great."
Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia serves during a men's singles quarterfinal at the ATP Indian Wells Masters in Indian Wells, U.S., October 15, 2021. /CFP
Tsitsipas fell 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to the 29th seeded Basilashvili, who defeated the 23-year-old Greek player for the first time in three career meetings and recorded his first win over a world number three player after reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.
The 29-year-old Georgian defeated Roger Federer earlier this year en route to the Doha title, but the Swiss great's ranking at the time had fallen in the wake of injuries.
Basilashvili had never won at Indian Wells until this year's tournament.
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece congratulates Nikoloz Basilashvili (in white) of Georgia after their men's singles quarterfinal at the ATP Indian Wells Masters in Indian Wells, U.S., October 15, 2021. /CFP
"I was under stress. My energy level was going up and down but I am happy with the way it ended, and I kept my energy level up," said Basilashvili, the son of a Georgian national ballet dancer. "At the end, I was really tired but I was physically able to stay on the court."
Tsitsipas blasted 10 aces but made two double faults and was undone by unforced errors in the two hours and 10 minutes match on the main stadium.
(With input from agencies)