Fritz starts to figure in race to Turin

Taylor Fritz stepped up his bid for a return to the year-end ATP Finals on Friday as he scrapped through in Tokyo for a 7-5, 7-6 (4) defeat of Nuno Borges at the Japan Open to move into the quarter-finals.

The Californian, runner-up a year ago to Alexander Zverev in the Turin final, finished off Portugal’s Borges with 29 winners in just under two hours.

Fritz was far from pleased with his form but happy to have completed the comeback effort.

I made it very hard for myself. I came out first game and was broken,” he said.

“I didn’t make first serves in the first game and then caught every ball super early. I did a really good job of breaking back. It is not too often I go down a break early and then go down a break down two times in the second set.

“I fought really hard and did a great job of getting myself back in the sets.”

Fritz stands provisional sixth in the race to the eight-player year-ender set for November.

He is bidding for his third title of the season in Tokyo this week and next plays Sebastian Korda in the quarters.

Norway’s Casper Ruud also kept thin hopes of a Turin place alive, with the provisional No. 12 advancing in Japan over injury comeback candidate Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (4), 6-2.