WASHINGTON — Taylor Fritz needed three sets and three hours to get past Andy Murray 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open in a fourth-round match briefly interrupted by climate protesters on Friday — and then the tournament’s top-seeded man went back out on court at night for the quarterfinals.
Fritz vs. Murray was one of several matches wiped out by rain on Thursday, jumbling the schedule at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open and forcing some players to compete twice on Friday.
Fritz, a 25-year-old from California who is the top-ranked American man at No. 9, saved all seven break points he faced in the third set against Murray, a 36-year-old from Britain who earned three Grand Slam titles before he had two hip operations.
There was a trio of break chances in the match’s final game, which Murray led love-40 before Fritz got out of trouble with the temperature in the mid-80s Fahrenheit (around 30 Celsius) and 60% humidity.
“I feel like when I’m down those break points, sometimes the opponent might feel some added pressure to it,” said Fritz, who hit 17 aces with tennis balls he called “awful.”
He managed to serve it out for his 40th victory of the season; only No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev have more. Fritz had failed to come through in a similar situation late in the opening set, which he led 5-3 and held one set point on Murray’s serve there. Fritz then had two more set points on his own serve in the following game, but could not close the deal.
Three hours after he finished the win against Murray, Fritz returned to a different court to face unseeded Jordan Thompson for a spot in the semifinals. ATP Tour rules call for a minimum of 90 minutes of rest between matches.
“I can’t say I’ve experienced this — playing three hours with the heaviest balls in the world in humid conditions and having to turn around and play again,” Fritz said.
Murray said he couldn’t remember the last time he played twice in one day.
“It’s pretty rare that it happens,” he said. “There is not necessarily, like, a strategy for that. Because it’s so rare, you just try and focus on the first match. And then if you get through it, try and rest and recover as much as you can before going out there. But it’s far from ideal.”
Thompson moved on by finishing off a 6-2, 6-2 victory over No. 11 Chris Eubanks in a match suspended late in the first set Thursday.
The winner of Fritz vs. Thompson would face No. 12 seed Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday. Griekspoor made it past Gael Monfils in three sets in a match halted early in the third on Thursday and completed Friday, then went back out and defeated No. 16 J.J. Wolf 7-5, 6-4.
No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe and qualifier Shang Juncheng finally got on court shortly before 6 p.m. to start their delayed fourth-rounder. Tiafoe won 6-2, 6-3 in 72 minutes, and was going to return later Friday to meet No. 9 Dan Evans in the quarterfinals. Evans defeated Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-3.
No. 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov had a much simpler day: He moved into the semifinals when No. 13 Ugo Humbert withdrew before their match Friday with an injured left leg.
In women’s action, top-seeded Jessica Pegula reached the final four by coming back to edge Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 across more than two hours. Pegula saved six break points in the third set – five at 3-2, and the last while serving out the victory.