By Thursday, most of the ATP riff raff is gone, anybody below a ranking of 100 or better is rare in the Quarterfinals. Holt, out, Rybakov, out. There are layers of talent on the tour, the top 3 has been Novak, Nadal, and Federer for the good part of two decades, an historical anomaly, but 64 Grand Slam tournament victories between them left little room for anyone else. A few broke through--Andy Murray, Wawrinka, and Del Po--but none dominated. No American took the court for a singles final during that time, but with the Californian Taylor Fritz, maybe we got a chance at one.
Fritz was playing Jack Sock at 7 and I had my family with me for the session. Located in the swankiest part of Dallas, in Highland Park, the Styslinger Tennis Complex served as a fine host location once again. My wife grew up around there and told stories as we walked from our street parking spot, Hillcrest and Mockingbird was her 1970's biking boundaries; my daughters were perfectly attired and peppy after a full day of work, they both had Friday off. We were ready for action, Giron vs. Otte (oh-tay) was the late match. Fritz was already blasting Sock when we arrived, it was the first set, we looked around, got some drinks, and shared some nachos, the girls were impressed with the scene, they googled, they giggled, they dug it all.
We caught the final set as Fritz finished it with little mercy, a big whippy forehand, and fearless angles. He was gifted a Stetson cowboy hat after the match for no particular reason. He dorkily put it on for a picture, but there's no pragmatism in a cowboy hat, and he took it off quick. American Giron dusted Otte The German, 6-4, 6-4. It was no contest, Otte's serve couldn't overcome his spray game, no way he can rally with the likes if Giron. The Quarters are set: Wolf/Tiafoe, Isner/Gomez, Fritz/Giron, Wu/Mannarino.