ATP Tour

Fritz advances to Basel SFs after his Live Race rival Fils retires

Taylor Fritz advanced to the Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals Friday, when Arthur Fils retired due to injury from the pair's clash at the ATP 500 event.

Fritz led Fils 6-2, 2-0 after 45 minutes of the quarter-final encounter when the Frenchman ended play. Fils had earlier received a medical timeout at 5-2 in the first set.

The 29-year-old Fritz is now 16-3 at ATP 500 events this season and is contesting his fourth semi-final in five events played at that level, having also reached that stage in Dallas, Halle and Washington. By advancing to the semi-finals in Basel, Fritz has boosted his chances of making a late surge towards Nitto ATP Finals qualification: He is currently 12th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, but could rise to 10th by lifting the trophy in Switzerland.

Despite his quarter-final retirement in Basel, Fils remains well positioned to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 22-year-old is currently in seventh place in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, 316 points ahead of ninth-placed Rafael Jodar in the final qualification spot. A titlist in Barcelona and Cincinnati this year, Fils is next scheduled to compete on home soil at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Awaiting Fritz in the last four in Basel will be Valentin Vacherot, who earlier outlasted Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to reach his fourth ATP Tour semi-final. Rune was playing his first quarter-final since his September return from a serious Achilles injury, but Vacherot halted his run by crucially saving nine of 10 break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"I thought we played a really good match," Vacherot reflected. "Holger is playing some ping-pong tennis. Sometimes taking the ball earlier than anyone on the Tour, and [sometimes just] just ripping it. That is good for me, it is just a different playing style. It is my first year on the Tour. I am learning [about] all those big guys that have been here for a while."