ATP Tour

Fritz defeats Zverev once again to reach Halle final, Tiafoe advances

Taylor Fritz continued his dominant recent record against Alexander Zverev on Saturday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where he overcame the German 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final.

Fritz has won his past seven meetings against the World No. 3 and now leads the 29-year-old 10-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. In a two-hour, 39-minute encounter on the grass in Halle, Fritz struck 19 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-serve points to snap Zverev’s 10-match winning streak.

"I felt like I played a good tie-break [in the first set] and I felt I got a little unlucky with some bounce and he played some really good points and took one on my serve and that was it. I felt like he was struggling with something. I am not sure what it was. I felt like I felt better than he did so that was what I needed to tell myself to go to work."

Zverev lifted his first major trophy at Roland Garros earlier this month and was aiming to back up that triumph in Halle and win the title for the first time. However, the top seed struggled physically at times and received treatment throughout the clash against Fritz.

After breaking Zverev's serve in the 11th game of the third set, Fritz sealed victory when the German dumped a forehand volley into the net. The American is now just one win from clinching his sixth grass-court crown, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Out of active players, only Novak Djokovic (8) has had more success on the surface.

Fritz, into his fifth ATP 500 final, is just the second man to reach the Stuttgart and Halle championship matches in the same season since 2015, when both events were held on grass courts. The 10-time Halle champion Roger Federer achieved the feat in 2018.

"I knew going into this week the field was crazy," Fritz said on his Halle run. "I looked at the draw when it came out and I wasn't even a Top four seed in a week with two 500s where Novak, Carlos and Sinner are not even playing... I felt that if I play well on grass, the strength of the field doesn't matter as much."

Fritz, who overcame World No. 5 Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals, is up two spots to No. 7 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Chasing his 11th tour-level trophy, the American will play Frances Tiafoe in the final on Sunday.

{{player.PlayerFirstName}} {{player.PlayerLastName}}

{{player.PlayerCountryCode}}

{{player.PlayerLastName}}

{{player.PartnerLastName}}

{{player.Record}}

Vs
wins

{{opponent.Record}}

Show H2H Detail

{{opponent.PlayerFirstName}} {{opponent.PlayerLastName}}

{{opponent.PlayerCountryCode}}

{{ opponent.PlayerLastName }}

{{opponent.PartnerLastName}}

• {{player.Ranking}} Rank {{opponent.Ranking}}
• {{player.Age ? player.Age : '-'}} Age {{opponent.Age ? opponent.Age : '-'}}

Tiafoe downed German wild card Daniel Altmaier 6-1, 6-3 to reach his second ATP 500 final of the year after losing to Flavio Cobolli in Acapulco.

Tiafoe and Fritz have joined Mardy Fish in 2004 as the only American finalists in Halle tournament history and have set up the fourth all-American ATP Tour final of the season after Fritz and Shelton at Dallas and Stuttgart and Sebastian Korda and Tommy Paul at Delray Beach.

"I thought it was really good today... It could have been a different match when I played a loose game at 3-2 in the second set, but I got a hold there and kept the momentum," Tiafoe said.

Tiafoe, who saved three match points in his quarter-final win against Felix Auger-Aliassime, leads Altmaier 5-0 in the pair's Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The 28-year-old will fight for his fourth tour-level trophy on Sunday.

Did You Know?
Fritz has earned a Tour-leading 43 grass-court wins this decade. Daniil Medvedev is second on the list with 37 wins.