On Day Six in Indian Wells, the 20 year old American defeated Verdasco, and in doing so added another highlight to his growing CV.
Fritz has made the round of sixteen at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time. Previously, he had never ventured past the second round at this level and never beyond the opening round at Indian Wells..
With plenty of years of improvement ahead of him, fans can expect that CV to become an impressive document.
The match opened with Fernando serving well, winning 15 of 18 points on his first attempts, and 80% on all his serves.
Taylor kept in touch, but it was Fernando who converted the sole break point available in the set to lead 6-4.
Situation reversed for Verdasco in set two as his first serve % dropped to a miserable 42%. Fritz, on the other hand, dominated, with 70% of first serves landing legally, and him winning 89% of points resulting from those deliveries.
Facing no break points himself, the crowd favourite broke Fernando twice to level the match 4-6 6-2.
The deciding set was close (1 service break apiece) and required a tie break. The breaker was not close, with Taylor Fritz blitzing Fernando Verdasco to win 4-6 6-2 7-6(1)
The fourth round challenge for Taylor will be another youngster, 21 year old unseeded Borna Coric, who upset 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in their third round encounter 6-1 6-3
Other third round results:
Roger Federer (1) defeated Filip Krajinovic (25) 6-2 6-1
Jérémy Chardy defeated Adrian Mannarino (20) in a battle of the Frenchmen 7-5 4-6 6-1
Hyeon Chung (23) defeated Tomas Berdych (12) 6-4 6-4
Pablo Cuevas (30) defeated Dominic Thiem (5) 3-6 6-4 4-2 (retired)
Pablo Carreno Busta (11) defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-1 7-5
Kevin Anderson (7) defeated Nicolas Kicker 7-6(1) 7-6(3)
The bottom half of the women’s draw came out to play third round matches, and the eagerly awaited battle of the Williams sisters was top of the list.
Serena had won the last three times they had clashed, each of those in a Grand Slam setting, the most recent the 2017 Aus Open.
Venus last beat her sister in the 2014 Canadian Masters semi final.
Last year she made the quarter finals here. It was her second appearance at Indian Wells after boycotting the event for 14 years.
In the 2018 BNP Paribas Open, Venus conquered Serena.
The opening set belonged completely to the number 8 seed, and maybe this was not a big surprise - the point of the tournament where Serena would eventually struggle - given her lack of match play and the increased quality of opponent.
Venus won 37 points to 26 and achieved the only break, to lead 6-3
The second set was tighter, and though Serena was back in the match, it came after Venus claimed an early break, forcing the champ to play catch up.
The victory for Venus was 6-3 6-4, but Serena can take heart from her two wins which proved that with further tournament action she will once again take a power of beating.
Venus progresses to the round of sixteen, where she will tackle Anastasija Sevastova (21) who defeated Julia Goerges (12) 6-3 6-3
Other matches to complete the third round:
Wildcard Danielle Collins defeated wildcard Sofya Zhuk 6-4 6-4
She will play Carla Suárez Navarro (27) in the fourth round
Carla Suárez Navarro (27) defeated Elina Svitolina (4) 7-5 6-3
Caroline Garcia (7) defeated Dasha Gavrilova (26) 7-5 6-4
She will play Angie Kerber (10) in the fourth round
Angie Kerber (10) defeated defending champion Elena Vesnina (24) 7-5 6-2
Daria Kasatkina (20) defeated Sloane Stephens (13) 6-4 6-3
She will play Caroline Wozniacki (2) in the fourth round
Caroline Wozniacki (2) defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4 2-6 6-3 in about 140 minutes of fascinating tennis.
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