World number 5 Taylor Fritz beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 3-6 6-1 in 94 minutes to reach his fourth final at the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
Fritz broke at love in the second game to race out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set. The 2024 US Open held on his serve in the next games and sealed the first set on his second set point in the ninth game.
Davidovich Fokina bounced back by breaking serve at love in the fourth game of the second set to open up a 4-1 lead. The Spaniard held on his serve in the next games to close out on his first set point.
Fritz saved a break point in the first game of the third set before breaking at love in the second game to take a 3-0 lead. Davidovich Fokina earned another break point in the fifth game, but Fritz saved it to hold serve at deuce for 4-1 before sealing the win with a double break in the sixth game.
Fritz came through three-set matches against Joao Fonseca and Marcos in the previous rounds. The US player has extended his winning streak in semifinals a Eastbourne to 4-0.
“It’s easy in the second set to panic a little bit when the things that were working for me aren’t really working. I had to take a step back and think it out, make some changes, and commit to doing some things differently in the third. Luckily, I was able to execute it and do those things well”, said Fritz.
Fritz set up a final against Jenson Brooksby, who came back from one set down to beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-4.
Brooksby broke in the fifth game to take a 3-1 lead in the first set. He squandered a 5-3 lead when Humbert broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5.
Humbert earned a mini-break to take a 2-0 lead. Brooksby pulled back on serve to draw level to 2-2. Humbert earned his second mini-break to win the tie-break 9-7.
Brooksby broke at 15 in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. Humbert broke back at 30 in the fifth game and saved three break points in the sixth game to hold serve at deuce for 3-3. Brooksby sealed the second set with a break in the 10th game.
Briooksby broke in the second game of the third set at 15 to race out to a 3-0 lead. Humbert pulled back on serve in the fifth game and held serve at 15 to draw level to 3-3. Brooksby saved three set points in the seventh game before breaking in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. Humbert broke straight back in the ninth game at 30. Brooksby sealed the win with a break on his third match point in the 10th game.
Brooksky moved up 48 spots to number 101 in the ATP Live Ranking.
“It means a lot to be back on stages like this, not just skill-wise but physically. This is my favourite thing in the world to be back on these big stages in these big matches. I’m very happy to be playing again tomorrow”, said Brooksby.
Brooksby has become the first lucky loser to reach the final in tournament history.
