ATP Tour

Fritz into Stockholm SFs after Rune withdraws, Tabilo downs Michelsen

Taylor Fritz advanced to the semi-finals at the Bybit Stockholm Open after former champion Holger Rune withdrew ahead of the pair’s quarter-final clash on Thursday evening at the ATP 250 event.

The top-seeded Fritz booked his spot after Rune withdrew due to a right leg injury. Now into his seventh tour-level semi-final of the season and third in the past four weeks, the 29-year-old American will take on Lorenzo Musetti or Ugo Humbert for a place in the final.

The No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Fritz is the fifth man this season to reach at least seven semi-finals this season after Alexander Zverev (12), Daniil Medvedev (10), Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (7 each).

Earlier at the ATP 250 event, fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo moved past Alex Michelsen 7-5, 7-6(2) in the first quarter-final match of the day. The 29-year-old crucially saved six of the seven break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to notch a one-hour, 54-minute victory against the American and level the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series 1-1.

With the triumph, Tabilo advanced to his fourth ATP Tour semi-final of the season and became only the second Chilean semi-finalist in tournament history after Marcelo Rios in 2002.

Standing between Tabilo and a place in the final will be Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante. In the second quarter-final clash on Thursday, Tirante outlasted Kazakhstani qualifier Aleksandr Shevchenko 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3.

Shevchenko rallied to upset Casper Ruud in the second round on Wednesday but could not replicate the result against Tirante, who claimed the only break of the match at 2-1 in the third set and eventually advanced after two hours and 49 minutes. Tirante is into his third ATP Tour semi-final and first on a hard court.

"It was a great battle against one of my friends on the Tour," Tirante said. "We played really well for [the entire] match. Even if I [earned] only one break in the match, I think we played a good match. I am very happy because mentally and physically it was very tough. Very strong serving and incredible form."