Fritz and Paul set up all-American semifinal in Lyon, guaranteeing the event’s first American finalist

Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul will meet in the semifinals of the Lyon ATP 250 after both won their quarterfinals on Friday. Fritz, the No. 2 seed, beat Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Paul, the No. 4 seed, beat Corentin Moutet of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

No American had ever reached the semifinals of the tournament, which was held in Marseille from 1993 to 2025, so one of them will become its first American finalist.

Fritz turns the tables on Altmaier

Fritz, ranked No. 14, avenged his loss to Altmaier in the first round of Roland-Garros last year, when the German beat him 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 for the biggest win of his career.

The American wildcard had opened his week with a 6-2, 7-5 win over French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He reaches his 44th tour-level semifinal and his fifth of the season, after Dallas, Stuttgart, Halle and Washington. It is the fifth time in six years that he has reached at least five semifinals in a season.

“I think this whole week I have been happy with everything,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “In practice as well I have been feeling confident about all parts of my game. I normally have something to complain about. I am serving really well and I think I am hitting the ball really well on both sides.”

Paul ends Moutet’s run and pushes him out of the top 100

Paul, ranked No. 15, improved to 3-0 against Moutet. The Frenchman had knocked out No. 7 seed Ugo Humbert, the two-time defending champion, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) in the first round, then beat Felix Balshaw 6-4, 6-4. Moutet, ranked No. 94, needed a semifinal to stay inside the top 100, and he will now drop out of it for the first time since April 2024.

Paul had beaten Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in his opener. His 44th win of the season ties Frances Tiafoe for the most among American men this year. He reaches his 24th tour-level semifinal, his sixth of the season and his first since Queen’s Club in June.

Rivals since the juniors

The semifinal at the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes revives a rivalry that dates back more than a decade. In 2015, Paul beat Fritz 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in the Roland-Garros boys’ final, and Fritz won the US Open boys’ final against him 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-2. The two later won the bronze medal in men’s doubles together at the 2024 Paris Olympics.