US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early Saturday morning marathon to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina in the semifinals of the ATP DC Open.
World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2:00 am.
Davidovich-Fokina advanced to a Saturday semifinal against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.
Fritz, who had 20 aces and six double faults, served for the match in the ninth and was up 30-0 but lost, then failed to take advantage of three double faults by Davidovich-Fokina in the 10th game.
The other men’s semifinal will send French lucky loser Corentin Moutet against Australian seventh seed Alex De Minaur, who eliminated American Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4.
Moutet withstood leg cramps to eliminate eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
“I tried to survive every point because it was hard physically,” Moutet said after fighting off leg cramps. “I’m just proud of myself.”