Márton Fucsovics, the highest-ranked Hungarian male tennis player, makes a sensational appearance at the grass court tournament in Germany.
Márton Fucsovics also won against Taylor Fritz, ranked eighth in the world, in Stuttgart, so he can compete in the semi-finals, in which Frances Tiafoe will be his opponent.
The 86th ranked player in the world ranking - who started his career in the qualifiers - beat the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (29th) from a set deficit in the opening round, and in the round of 16 he defeated the Chinese Wu Ji-ping (64th) in three games.
In Friday's quarter-finals, the 31-year-old Márton Fucsovics clashed with Fritz, who was ranked second by the organizers and whom he had already met twice this year. The American rival won two games on hard court in March in Indian Wells and three games on clay in Munich in April.
The player from Nyíregyháza got off to a great start in their match on the grass court, as he was able to break the first service game of his rival, who is famous for his big serves, and maintained his advantage throughout, gaining the lead in 41 minutes.
In the second set, Fritz greatly improved the efficiency of his game behind his own serves, but Fucsovics kept up and after parrying a break point at 3:4, he took advantage of his receiving opportunity two games later - his fifth in total - and regained the break advantage at the best time. The player of the Hungarian Davis Cup national team then started with 0-30, but he reversed and took advantage of his fourth match point and was able to celebrate advancement after 1 hour and 41 minutes.
Márton Fucsovics - Taylor Fritz (American, 2nd) 6:4, 7:5
Fucsovics last reached the top four in an ATP tournament at the 2021 hard-court tournament in Rotterdam, where he marched all the way to the final. The Hungarian quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in 2021 can play a semi-final on grass for the first time.
Fucsovics will face another American, the third-ranked Frances Tiafoe (12th), in Saturday's continuation.
MTI
