ATP Tour

Fritz shakes off scary fall, Cobolli fires past Wawrinka in Lyon

Taylor Fritz had to navigate a scary mid-match tumble to kick-start his title bid at the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes on Thursday afternoon in Lyon.

The second-seeded American produced a slick serving performance, however, and fended off spirited French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event. Fritz won all 16 of his service points in the first set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, before a nervy moment at the start of the second set threatened to disrupt his momentum.

On the opening point, Fritz swivelled to retrieve Herbert’s low slice but appeared to roll his ankle before falling awkwardly to the ground. The No. 14 player in the PIF ATP Rankings took an off-court medical timeout but returned to action in clinical fashion to seal victory after 93 minutes.

“Luckily for me, as the second set went on, I started to feel less pain,” Fritz said when asked about the fall. “I’m used to falling a lot, so normally it happens and I get up. But this was probably the hardest that I’ve ever fallen on my butt.”

Fritz is aiming to bolster his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals this week, having competed at the season finale in 2022, 2024 and 2025. The American, who next faces Daniel Altmaier, is currently 13th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

Another man firmly in the hunt for a spot in Turin, fifth-placed Flavio Cobolli, also ignited his campaign at the French ATP 250 event on Thursday. The top-seeded Italian defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-4 in just 67 minutes in the Swiss legend's penultimate tournament of his ATP Tour career.

Cobolli now leads the 41-year-old Wawrinka, who is retiring after his run in Basel next week, 3-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"It was a pleasure to share the court with you today," Cobolli said to Wawrinka in his on-court interview. "Today I was a little bit more nervous than the other times. You make me nervous because you are not a simple player, but a legend of our sport."

Earlier, Luca Van Assche continued his standout season by upsetting Valentin Vacherot 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his third ATP Tour quarter-final of the season. The Frenchman, who captured his maiden title in Estoril in July, will next meet sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti.