The last time an American had reached the final of the masters tournament was James Blake in the now distant 2006. He succumbed to an unapproachable Roger Federer. To find the last United States champion in the competition you have to go further back, to the 20th century, when Pete Sampras defeated his compatriot André Agassi in 1999. It was the year after Àlex Corretja beat Carlos Moyà and took the title. qualification. What times those were. In the current ones it seemed that Alexander Zverev could beat Taylor Fritz and would become the first finalist of the current edition. But no, the American hopes to succeed Sampras this Sunday after surprising the German in a fantastic match. 6-3, 3-6 and 7-6 (3) in 2 hours and 20 minutes. The winner of the second semi-final, which pits Jannik Sinner against Casper Ruud, will be measured this Sunday.
Although if you look at the history between Fritz and Zverev, the American’s triumph should not be so surprising. Now the head-to-head is 7-5 for Fritz, a tennis player who makes Zverev extremely uncomfortable due to his power and size. Riding on his powerful serve (15 direct serves in total) the American took the first set in no time. In less than half an hour and with only three unforced errors.
No one had managed to break Zverev’s serve all week. Until Fritz achieved it in this initial round. Curves were coming for the German, a bitter feeling considering his sweet play in the previous three games. Zverev looked for his father and they exchanged points of view.
The last American to win the Masters was Pete Sampras in 1999
There was a possibility that the German, as has happened so many times in the past, would break down and start giving away points with discretionary errors. But at 27 years old, the same as Fritz, Zverev regained his temper, achieved a break in the second set and leveled the match. The match deserved an exciting and even outcome. And by faith he had it. Both tennis players had break opportunities in the third set. Up to three Zverev raised. And Fritz recovered up to five. The tie-break was presented as the natural outcome. There the American was much more clever, as in most matches against Zverev he has played sudden deaths better. This circumstance seemed to be stuck in the German’s head, who did not show his most brilliant tennis at that moment.
Therefore, Fritz advances, a tennis player with only eight tournaments under his belt (two in 2024) and whose best result in a major competition is the final he played this year at the United States Open and lost to Sinner. . He had been pointing out ways in recent months and now he has the opportunity to vindicate tennis in the United States, which has lacked references in the men’s team for too long.
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