Taylor Fritz finishes off Joao Fonseca over two days in Eastbourne

Taylor Fritz edged into the Lexus Eastbourne Open quarterfinals on Thursday, winning a two-day clash over Joao Fonseca, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5.

Fritz-Fonseca was suspended due to darkness on Wednesday after Fonseca leveled the match at one set all, but it was the top-seeded Fritz who ultimately got the upper hand and held off a late surge from the Brazilian teen to book an all-American battle with Marcos Giron in a total of two hours on Center Court.

Fritz began the grass swing on a bright note by winning his first title of 2025 at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart. Though he fell in his next match at the HSBC Championships in Queen’s Club to Corentin Moutet, the 27-year-old remains one of the contenders to win next week’s Wimbledon Championships, having reached the quarterfinals at SW19 two out of the last three years.

Where Fritz is set to make his ninth main-draw appearance at the All England Club, Fonseca is gearing up for his Wimbledon debut; the 18-year-old burst onto the scene earlier this year by reaching the third round of the Miami Open, where he pushed Alex de Minaur through three dramatic sets. Fonseca built on that momentum at Roland Garros, again reaching the third round with a win over Hubert Hurkacz en route.

He rallied from a set down to win his first ATP grass-court match against Zizou Bergs on Monday and looked poised for a similar comeback against Fritz, flipping a 1-3 deficit in the second set’s Sudden Death to force a decider.

Fritz was faster out of the gate on Thursday, racing to a 5-2 lead behind a break of serve, but Fonseca battled back once more, breaking Fritz as he served for the match and evening the score at 5-5.

Undaunted, Fritz found a new gear in the final two games, winning seven points in a row to earn triple match point on Fonseca’s serve. Converting the second, he edged over the finish line and into the quarterfinals, where Giron awaits.

To reach the semfinals, Fritz will not only have to win two matches in one day, but he’ll have to avenge a Rome loss to Giron earlier this season (Fritz leads 4-2 in overall head-to-head).