Marcos Giron upset fourth seed Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) after 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach the third round for the second time in his career at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at the Foro Italico in Rome. Giron came back from 0-4 down in the second set capitalizing on all three of his break points.
Giron broke at love in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Fritz converted his second break point in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. Giron went up a 4-1 lead in the tie-break. Fritz pulled both breaks back to reduce his deficit to 3-4. Giron won three of the next four points to clinch the tie-break 7-4.
Fritz went up a double break to race out to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Giron pulled both breaks back to draw level to 4-4.
Giron earned an early mini-break to take a 2-1 lead in the tie-break, but Fritz pulled back on serve to draw level to 2-2. Giron won three consecutive points to open up a 5-2 lead. Fritz pulled one mini-break to reduce the deficit to 3-5, but Giron earned his fourth mini-break to clinch the tie-break 7-4.
Giron achieved his second win over Fritz, who now leads 5-2 in their head-to-head matches.
Giron achieved his second top 5 win this season after beating Casper Ruud in the second round at Indian Wells and his first top 10 win on clay.
Fritz has recorded 16 wins to 8 defeats this season. He delayed his clay season until the Madrid Mutua Open due to an abdominal issue. Jack Draper, Indian Wells champion and finalist in Madrid, can overtake Fritz for the number 4 seed at Roland Garros by reaching the semifinals in Rome.
Fritz is planning to play at the Geneva Open before Roland Garros.
Fabian Maroszan beat Andrey Rublev 7-5 4-6 6-3 to achieve his second win over a top-20 opponent on clay. Maroszan fired 33 winners to Rublev’s 32. Maroszan has drawn level to 2-2 in his four head-to-head matches against Rublev. The Hungarian player beaat Carlos Alcaraz in Rome in 2023.
Rublev earned an immediate break in the first game and consolidated it by holding serve at love to open up a 2-0 lead. Maroszan converted his third break-back point in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Maroszan served out the first set with a break in the 12th game.
Rublev converted his second break point in the first game of the second set. Maroszan broke straight back in the second game to draw level to 1-1. Rublev broke to love in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. The Russian player saved four break points to hold serve at deuce in the sixth game for 4-2 and served out the second set with a hold a love in the 10thgame.
Rublev started the third set with an immediate break in the first game. Maroszan converted his third break-back point in the second game. Maroszan earned his second break at deuce in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and consolidated it with a hold at love in the fifth game for 4-1. Rublev saved two match points in the eighth game to reduce the deficit for 3-5. Maroszan wrapped up the win on his fourth match point after saving two set points in the ninth game.
