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American Tommy Paul defeated countryman and longtime rival Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2) in a three-hour marathon match to seal a spot in the Mexican Open final.
The pair of 25-year-olds have squared off since their teenage years. The Americans faced each other for the first time – when Fritz was 13 and Paul was 14 – at the 2011 USTA Boys’ 14s National Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
Paul need nearly three-and-a-half hours to beat the third-seeded Fritz in the semi final round and became the third American to reach the final in Acapulco.
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Fritz accomplished the feat in 2020 after Sam Querrey won the tournament in 2017.
After comfortably claiming the opening set, Paul held match point in the second but was unable to convert. He then battled from 1-3 down in the third set to force a third set tiebreaker.
The match was so intense that on the verge of a third set tie-break, Fritz was forced to vomit into a tub stationed behind his players’ bench.
Breaking away from his serve in the process, Fritz received a time penalty for delaying the play.
Clocking three-hours-and-25-minutes, the match is officially the longest in Acapulco history.
After breaking into the top five in the last update of the ATP singles rankings, Fritz will now drop out after one week.
Paul, who reached the semi finals in the Australian Open in January, is trying to capture his second career title after Stockholm in 2021.
He will face Alex de Minaur in the final after the Aussie defeated Holger Rune 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the second semi.
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