Taylor Fritz, Kei Nishikori line up Atlanta quarterfinal for first meeting since May 2019

Is this the week where Taylor Fritz gets going again? Or perhaps, is it the week where Kei Nishikori takes the biggest step yet in his comeback?

The top seed at the Atlanta Open, Fritz fired 10 aces in his opening 6-4 7-6 (5) victory over Wu Yibing on Thursday evening. The world No. 9 was clutch on serve when he needed to be: at 5-4 in the opening set, he saved a break point before closing on his fifth time of asking. Fritz then erased a pair of set points serving at 4-5, 15-40 to avoid a decider.

"It could have gone either way, I kind of just barely got out of the points I needed to win," summed up the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. native in an on-court chat.

Fritz is looking to win his first title since tasting victory at the outdoor hard-court tournament in Delray Beach on February 19. Tonight's win saw the 25-year-old American avenge his defeat to Wu in this year's Dallas Open semifinals. Setting scores will be Fritz's name of the game once again Friday, as he seeks his first win in four attempts against Kei Nishikori.

The former world No. 4 continued to impress when he overcame Wu’s countryman Shang Juncheng by a nearly identical scoreline of 6-4, 7-6 (3). Nishikori opened a double-break advantage in the second-set tiebreak, creating necessary separation at the optimal time to advance after one hour and 34 minutes.

In June, Nishikori launched his return from a 20-month absence due to hip surgery and an ankle sprain by taking home the Palmas del Mar Challenger title. Atlanta marks his first tour-level appearance since the October-staged edition of Indian Wells in 2021.

"I just came back, played the last couple tournaments and coming into here, I'm feeling pretty good," he said afterwards. "Luckily I won two rounds here and happy to play another one tomorrow."

Nishikori has won all six sets played versus Fritz. Two of their prior encounters came on clay and they haven’t met in more than four years.

In an all-American showdown, eighth seed J.J. Wolf eased past Maxime Cressy, 7-6 (7), 6-3. The 24-year-old also bested Cressy last October en route to contesting his maiden ATP final in Florence.

Wolf next meets Dominik Koepfer, who rallied past Dan Evans, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4. The Brit had 0-40 on the left-hander’s serve at 5-4 in set two, but the German staved off the trio of match points to reach his first tour-level quarterfinal of the season.