Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda are the first American pair to reach 3R of the Monte-Carlo Masters since 1987
Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda are the first American pair to reach the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters since 1987.
Tenth seed Fritz fought off former US Open champion Marin Cilic in three sets to reach the third round. Korda, on the other hand, produced a major upset by beating Miami Open champion Carlos Alcaraz 7-6(2), 6-7(5). 6-3 to seal his place in the third round.
Two young American men in the round of 16 on the red clay in Monte Carlo. Taylor Fritz joins Sebastian Korda by defeating Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Served it out at love & creeps ever closer to the top 10
Times are changing
#getty https://t.co/SGeylkBPDW
Jimmy Arias and Aaron Krickstein were the last American duo to reach this stage of the Monte-Carlo Masters, having done so in 1987.
While Arias was unseeded in the competition, Krickstein was seeded 15th. The two met in the third round, with Arias winning 7-5, 6-1. He then beat seventh seed Kent Carlsson and Austria's Horst Skoff to reach the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters. In the final, Arias faced Mats Wilander and won the opening set, but the Swede took the next three to win the competition for the second time in his career.
Over the next 34 years, a few Americans reached the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters, but there were no instances of two players doing so simultaneously, until Fritz and Korda this week.
Taylor Fritz reaches the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters
Like Arias and Krickstein in 1987, Fritz and Korda locked horns in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. Fritz came out on top in the duo's first-ever meeting, winning 7-6(4), 7-5.
With the victory, the 24-year-old became the first American to reach the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters since Sam Querrey in 2008. He is also only the third player from the United States to reach the last eight of the tournament in the 21st century.
In the quarterfinals, Fritz will face either David Goffin or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. A win would make him the first American to reach the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters since Aaron Krickstein in 1992.