With Nick Kyrgios' walkover in Tokyo, Taylor Fritz is now one win away from breaking into top 10 of ATP rankings for first time
Taylor Fritz is through to the semifinals of the 2022 Japan Open after getting a walkover from Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals. With the Aussie's withdrawal from the event, the American is just one win away from entering the top 10 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
This will be the American's third semifinal of the year, after Indian Wells and Eastbourne. He emerged victorious on both previous occasions and will be hoping to do the same in Tokyo.
Fritz is currently ranked No. 11 in the world and needs to reach the final of the Japan Open to reach the milestone.
In his press conference, Kyrgios revealed that he was disappointed to withdraw from the event due to a left knee injury.
"It's obviously very disappointing. It's one of my favorite tournaments. I've had great memories here... It's heartbreaking, but I'll be here next year. That's for sure," he said.
The World No. 20 mentioned that he had been managing the issue of his knee for quite some time now.
"I've been playing amazing tennis all year and actually was dealing with a bit of a knee issue around the US Open time. I got back home and probably didn't take enough time off, to be honest. I went straight back into training," he added.
Nick Kyrgios withdraws from #RakutenOpen quarter-final and Taylor Fritz is into his third semi-final of the season and first one at an ATP 500 event by walkover.
Taylor Fritz to face Denis Shapovalov in 2022 Japan Open semifinals
Taylor Fritz will face seventh seed Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals of the 2022 Japan Open.
Shapovalov was solid in his win over Borna Coric in the quarterfinals, beating him in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Though he leads 4-1 in his head-to-head against Fritz, the American has been playing some of his best tennis since returning to the court this week after his bout with COVID-19 in Seoul.
Fritz had earlier revealed that he was feeling better than expected physically and was looking forward to giving his best in Japan.
"[I'm feeling] better than I thought I would be," said Taylor Fritz. "I don't feel amazing, but I'm really happy that I was able to go through all that and still show up and win my match," he said after his win against Duckworth.
"I was more concerned about the cardio and my conditioning after being really sick and not having been able to do anything. Luckily the court was very fast, and so we were not playing long points, so physically I was OK," he added.
Taylor Fritz is now one win away from his first-ever top 10 and it's definitely a contender to qualify for the ATP Finals.
With Kyrgios' W/O in Tokyo, he secures his third semifinal of the year after Indian Wells and Eastbourne, where he eventually won both titles. https://t.co/OVaLUL0Xkw