Semi-finals day at the Rakuten Japan Open ATP 500 event went underway earlier today in Tokyo. It was down to the last 4 players remaining as there was all to play for.
In the first semi-final it was third seed Taylor Fritz taking on seventh seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada. Both players were looking in great shape with convincing showing from their recent matches. And as expected, the match was no short of quality. The two battled it out for three hard fought sets as both players played on a high level. Fritz took the first set 6-3. Shapovalov then put on a brave fight to take a thrilling tiebreak to win the second set 7-6 (7-5 in the tiebreak). Fritz despite being 1-3 down in the deciding set, bounced back in style to eventually take it 6-3 and win the match. He continues to reign strong in Tokyo as he makes it to the final.
In the other semi-final, his American teammate Frances Tiafoe, seeded fourth, took on Kwon soon-woo of Korea. The match started off in perfect fashion for Tiafoe as he took the first set 6-2. But Kwon swung right into the contest in convincing fashion as he won the second set 6-0. But he held on to win the decider 6-4. Despite the bagel set in the second, he was able to hold on to his nerves and seal the match in his favor.
So Fritz and Tiafoe will go on to contest an all American final on Sunday, the first since the 1996 edition of the event which was won by Pete Sampras when he defeated Richey Renenerg.
Image credit: Twitter/atptour
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