Fritz advances to final, his third in Eastbourne

American Taylor Fritz, the top seed, beat Australian lucky loser Aleksandar Vukic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) to advance to the final of the Eastbourne Open at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club on Friday evening.

“I’m playing fine. It’s tough to judge yesterday and the first three-fourths of this match; in the wind it’s never going to be pretty. I started to find a bit of rhythm in the end when the wind died down. At least I can say that I’m serving well and I am getting those chances to break. I just need to take them.”

“I love playing here. The tournament is extra special to me because this is where I got my first title… and hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow to get number three.”

Fritz, ranked No 13, will face Australian qualifier Max Purcell next.

In the previous rounds of the Eastbourne tournament, the American won against Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (7-6 (4), 6-3) and Chinese qualifier Juncheng Shang (7-6 (5), 7-6 (5)).

Vukic, ranked No 81, won against Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (6-2, 6-4), Kazakh Alexander Bublik, the No 3 seed (6-4, 6-4) and Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka (6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)) earlier in the tournament.

Eastbourne ATP 250, other semi-final result (Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, grass, EUR 740.160):

• Max Purcell beat Billy Harris (WC): 6-4, 4-6, 6-4