Aged 24, Fritz, who had already reached the semi-finals of the tournament in the Californian desert last year, without passing this milestone, will face Sunday Rafael Nadal (4th) or Carlos Alcaraz (19th), opposed in the another semi-final.

A 100% Spanish generational shock, between the stainless record holder for the number of Grand Slams won (21), aged 35, and his designated successor, who at 18 became the youngest Indian Wells semi-finalist behind Andre Agassi, who was 17 in 1988.

"Whatever the opponent, I expect a difficult and really different match, +Rafa+ is +Rafa+, we know him, and Alcaraz has been playing extremely well since the start of the tournament", commented hotly on the 20th. world, after his victory 7-5, 6-4 against Rublev (7th).

While waiting to know the identity of his future rival, Fritz can relish being the first American since John Isner in 2012 to reach this stage.

One more victory and he will become the first from his country to triumph in Indian Wells since the same Agassi in 2001.

And he was rewarded for his approach to the meeting.

"I really wanted to play aggressive, set the tone from the start of the match. Andrey played much better in the second set, but I managed to hang on until I took my chance," summed up the winner.

Very offensive, the native of San Diego indeed broke his opponent from the start and kept his advantage until leading 5-2, then succeeding in almost everything he undertook, especially in reverse.

Trimmed phalanges

Rublev, not in the game, nevertheless hung on and broke to go up to 5-5, before giving up his engagement again, Fritz managing to pocket the first set on his third opportunity.

Russian Andrey Rublev faces American Taylor Fritz in the semi-final of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, March 19, 2022 Frederic J. BROWN AFP

And as he often does when he is angry with himself, the Russian punched the string of his racket, to the point of carving his knuckles.

Enough to require a medical time-out.

Rublev, who, like his compatriots and Belarusians, plays without mention of his country or representation of his flag, according to a directive from the governing bodies of tennis in response to the war in Ukraine, was a little more regular in the exchanges during the 2nd round.

But he had too few opportunities to hope to reverse the situation, facing an opponent who knew how to keep up the pace and get out of the trap of the 9th game. The Russian got two break points by finally managing to place the big concrete blocks which are his specialty, but the American knew how to respond.

And in the process, it was Fritz who seized his chance by pressing Rublev, who ended up cracking definitively, after 1h47.

The one who remained on two victories in Marseille then Doha, had just conceded there his first defeat in 14 matches.

As for the American, he can dream of a second title on the circuit, much more prestigious than his first, won on the grass of Eastbourne in 2019.

He will have to recover as well as possible, because he confided to feeling a little tension in his right leg, at the very end of the match.

"My physio will fix it for me, I hope it's not too serious," he said.

© 2022 AFP