Taylor Fritz-2
ATLANTA (AP) — Taylor Fritz won his sixth career title Sunday, beating Aleksandar Vukic of Australia 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4 at the Atlanta Open.
The top seed and highest-ranked American at No. 9 tuned up for the U.S. Open with his second victory of the season on hard courts, having won the Delray Beach title in February.
He appeared en route to winning this title easily, reaching the final without dropping a set and then holding two match points while leading 6-5 in the second with Vukic serving. But the Australian erased those and then won the tiebreaker to force the deciding set.
Fritz, 25, recovered to take the third and deny Vukic his first ATP Tour title.
The 27-year-old Vukic, who played collegiately at Illinois, will rise to a career-high No. 62 in the ATP rankings. He would have climbed into the top 50 with a victory.