Taylor Fritz reaches the Indian Wells final after defeating Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev in the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday.
Fritz, native San Diego local and Torrey Pines High School alumni, and is now the first American to reach the Indian Wells final since Josh Isner back in 2012.
The 24-year-old local tennis superstar says he played the best tennis match of his career on Saturday, in a day where he approached this match very aggressive and precise with his groundstrokes.
"Today I definitely played my best match of the tournament so far. I was so much more aggressive from the ground and so much more solid [with] my groundstrokes, whereas [in] other matches I was maybe playing a bit safer," Fritz said on Saturday's match. "I really tried to take it to him and impose my game today. I did it well, so that helped a lot." he added.
He didn't defeat any other Tennis player this weekend, Fritz defeated Rublev who entered this match with a 13-consecutive winning streak. A dream come true for the San Diego native.
"It doesn't even seem real," said Fritz, who snapped Rublev's impressive winning streak. "It's such a dream come true. It's all the hard work I've put in throughout the years. I can see it finally paying off. It's reason why I play tennis." Fritz said after his victory.
And now the next step, his biggest challenge yet, Fritz will be facing the winner of the battle of two Spaniard giants, Rafael Nadal or Carlos Alcaraz, who are currently battling on the other side of the semi-final bracket.
Nonetheless, the San Diego native is ready for the challenge, regardless of who ends up winning that semi-final match between the two Spanish players. Fritz says that in order to come out victorious against his next opponent, he will have to perform like he did against Rublev.
"It's going to be a really different match depending on which one of them wins," Fritz said. "But Rafa's Rafa, and Alcaraz has been playing really well this whole week. He's an amazing player. I'm going to have to play a lot like I did today." he said on his potential opponents.
