american tennis player Taylor Fritznumber 20 in the ATP ranking, defeated his Spanish rival in three sets on Tuesday James Munarnumber 99, with partials 6-4, 2-6 and 7-6(2), in the third round of the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and advanced to the round of 16. Fritz had to go to the limit against Munar, who came into this match after winning two qualifying rounds and two main draw rounds, but succumbed in the final tiebreak after an intense battle of two hours and 49 minutes. The Spaniard said goodbye to the Californian desert after playing a high-level tournament, in which he saved three match points in the previous round to beat his compatriot Pablo Carreño.
This Tuesday he had managed to recover after losing the first set with a lot of remorse, as he missed eight break opportunities and was punished for one of the two granted to Fritz with 6-4 in favor of the American, a semifinalist in Indian Wells last year. The effectiveness that he lacked in the first set emerged in the second, in which Munar restored equality with a solid 6-2, converting the two break balls that he had available. The Spanish player, a quarterfinalist this year in Melbourne, started the decisive set poorly and found himself losing 1-4 with a broken deficit, but he managed to increase his level and recover until he forced a tiebreaker. But this time it was Fritz who managed to withstand the tension better. He won all his points on serve and took a 5-2 lead against a Munar who lost confidence. In particular, he complained about a poor bounce of the ball at 4-2 that caused his unforced error and opened the way for Fritz’s through ball.
Fritz’s next rival will be the Australian, of Spanish descent, Alex De Miñaur, who eliminated the American Tommy Paul (7-6(2) and 6-2). Among the other results of this Tuesday, the Italian Matteo Berrettininumber 6 in the world ranking, won 6-4 and 7-5 against South African Lloyd Harris.
Spaniard Rafael Nadal, number four, is the highest seed remaining in the tournament, after the eliminations of German Alexander Zverev (3) and Russian Daniil Medvedev (1). Nadal will play this Wednesday the round of 16 against the American Reilly Opelka.