Fritz Edges Borges to Advance in Delray Beach
Top seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz made a winning start at the 2024 Delray Beach Open as the American moved past Nuno Borges of Portugal 7-6(5), 6-4 on Wednesday night.
“The crowd was amazing. It’s one of my favorite things coming back to Delray every year,” said Fritz. “The crowd really shows up here, they love the tennis and I feel like I get a lot of support here, so it’s great.”
Fritz was tested in his opening match as Borges served for the opening set at 5-4. But the American dug deep to break Borges serve, and proceeded to win the opener in a tiebreaker. In the second set, Fritz was able to convert the only break point to move through in straight sets.
“I have to play a lot more solid, safer, more disciplined and just be patient with myself when some of the shots I am going for aren’t really going in,” said Fritz. “So I’m really happy with how I competed.”
In the quarterfinals, Fritz will take on Australia’s Rinky Hijikita, who notched a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
The other quarterfinal set up already will see a battle of two Americans as Marcos Giron takes on Patrick Kypson.
On Thursday, second-seed Frances Tiafoe and third-seed Tommy Paul will play their opening round matches.
Click Here to see the full Order of Play for Thursday at the Delray Beach Open.
