ATP TORONTO: Karlovic edges Fritz while Johnson loses to Fognini. Good day for the other Americans, not so for Zverev

After his great run at Newport and Washington, that propelled him back inside the Top 30, Ivo Karlovic has scored his first Masters 1000 win since Shanghai last year, prevailing over young American Taylor Fritz by 6-7 7-6 6-2. As it could have been expected, it was a close contest between two good servers, with nothing that could separate the players in the first two sets. After that, Fritz needed a physio on the court, and he couldn’t put a better resistance in the final set, losing it 6-2. Ivo fired 29 aces and kept his serve better, saving 2 break points that he faced, but Taylor was also very solid until the problems started, playing neck and neck with a much older rival. Thus, Fritz continues with mediocre results after he burst onto the scene in February, winning just 4 ATP matches since then! It was a very tight opening set, with fast and fluid 11 games, before Karlovic had to work harder to level the score at 6-6. He was 40-0 before Fritz won the next 4 points, setting up a first break point of the match. Ivo saved it and he grabbed the game in the end, but only after 5 deuces.

The tie break was also close as it gets, with 2 set points for Ivo before Taylor made a crucial mini-break for 10-9, finishing the set after the next point. Young American was just a point away from breaking Karlovic in game 3 of the second set, which could have easily bring the match to him, but Ivo stayed calm and fends it off to still be in the chase. Fritz confronted with the first troubles on his serve in games 10 and 12, saving 3 break/set points to enter another tie break, but he was incapable of sealing the win. Ivo took it by 7-5 to level the score at 1-1, and that was pretty much all from Taylor, as he had nothing left in the tank for the final set. He got broken in the 1st and 5th games …

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