Without dropping a set, World No. 10 Taylor Fritz moved through the fourth round at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The top American racquet toppled 24th seed Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 in just 80 minutes, setting a meeting with Dane Holger Rune, who took down Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 earlier on Sunday.
In his on-court interview, the five-time ATP titlist assessed the match, stressing: “It turned more into making balls and being steady. Because when he was putting balls in the court, I couldn’t attack much off that.”
“In this next match against Holger, I would be surprised if I didn’t get more chances to attack.
“Nothing to do with him because against Emilio [Nava] and Denis, both these two matches, I have never seen a guy go after it so much and not allow me any options to attack. Hopefully, in the next match, I will get more chances to be aggressive.”
In their ninth meeting on Tour, Fritz took the initiative in the first set, converting his first break point at 4-3 after Shapovalov opened the door for conversation, hitting three double faults in the seventh game.
Seeking his first quarterfinal at the Masters 1000 tournament, he held onto his advantage, showcasing great consistency to wrap up the opener 6-4 in 39 minutes.
Fritz, who failed to defend his title in Indian Wells - losing in the quarterfinals to Italian Jannik Sinner - won 79 percent of the first serve points and 50 percent with his second serve.
In addition, he fired fewer winners than his adversary, 9 to 14, but committed fewer unforced errors, 4 to 10, respectively, one of the keys to winning the opener.
In the second set, under pressure, Shapovalov dropped his serve, allowing his opponent to take a 2-1 advantage, which the Delray Beach winner extended to 3-1.
The 24th seed remained close in the score but could not overpower Fritz’s forehand.
The 25-year-old flawlessly served for the match at 5-4, notching a 6-4 win in 40 minutes.
All in all, Fritz won 82 percent of the first serve points, converting three out of three break-point opportunities.
Moreover, he fired 14 winners, recording just seven unforced errors, compared to Peter Polansky’s pupil, 24 and 17, respectively.
The home favorite kicked off his campaign in Miami last Friday, sailing past countryman Emilio Nava in straight sets.
His fourth-round rival, seventh seed Rune, arrived in Miami after falling at the BNP Paribas Open third-round to three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka.
Nonetheless, the 19-year-old who meteorically rose to the Top 10 in 2022, winning all his three ATP career titles, is enjoying a good start to the 2023 season.
Sitting at World No. 8, he reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open - lost to Andrey Rublev in a five-set thriller.
In February, he advanced to the Open Sud de France - Montpellier semifinals, also moving into the last four in Acapulco.
In Miami, the Danish teenager is making his main draw debut, starting his campaign with victory over Marton Fucsovics on Friday, marching strong to his third-round win Sunday over 31st seed Schwartzman on the Butch Buchholz Court.
After the encounter, Rune outlined: “My focus was to step in every time I could and play my game. I think there were a few rallies where I didn’t, but 95 percent of the match was played on my terms, which was what I wanted.”
“I’m super happy that I was able to break him, and I only got broken once because he is super strong as a return player.”
Fritz and Rune have never met one another on Tour before their upcoming clash on Tuesday in Florida.