Andy Murray’s popcorn clash with Taylor Fritz moved to primetime Friday
Weather has meddled with the progress of the Citi Open in Washington and seen the blockbuster round of 16 clash between Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz moved to Friday night.
The match will not start before 19:00 (BST) on Friday evening for United Kingdom audiences although it is slated to be an afternoon match at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.
Inarguably the match of the day for most fans, ticketholders will have been left disappointed as rain cut short play on Thursday.
However, for UK followers this comes as a blessing in disguise as the match will now fall into a prime evening slot for Murray’s core fanbase.
On Washington’s stadium court, the highly anticipated Round of 16 game between top seed Fritz and 15th seed Murray was slated to take place after local favourite Frances Tiafoe’s matchup with Chinese qualifier Shang Juncheng. Due to the rai in the capital of the United States, neither showdown began, and both have now been moved to Friday.
Fritz and Murray are slated to play on the stadium court not before 14:00 (local time), followed by Tiafoe vs. Shang. The prize for moving on to the quarterfinals will be a Friday evening encounter, so the respective victors will have to pull double duty.
Three ATP Tour singles matches and two men’s doubles matches were finished prior to the rain. Grigor Dimitrov, the fifth seed, defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-3 to open play on the exhibition court on Thursday. On John Harris Court, JJ Wolf defeated Michael Mmoh 6-4, 7-6(5), while Ugo Humbert defeated Yosuke Watanuki 6-0, 6-2.
Citi Open order of play Friday
ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2023
STADIUM start 17:00
WTA – [1] J. Pegula (USA) vs [WC] E. Svitolina (UKR)
Not Before 19:00
Third Round – ATP – [1] T. Fritz (USA) vs [15] A. Murray (GBR)
Third Round – ATP – [Q] J. Shang (CHN) vs [2] F. Tiafoe (USA), 0-0
Not Before 21:00
WTA – [6] B. Bencic (SUI) vs [3] C. Gauff (USA)
Quarter-finals – TBA – ATP – A. Shevchenko or [9] D. Evans (GBR) vs [Q] J. Shang (CHN) or [2] F. Tiafoe (USA)
JOHN HARRIS start 17:00
WTA – [4] M. Sakkari (GRE) vs [Q] L. Fernandez (CAN)
Not Before 17:00
Third Round – ATP – [11] C. Eubanks (USA) vs J. Thompson (AUS), 2-5
Not Before 19:30
WTA – [8] L. Samsonova vs M. Kostyuk (UKR)
After Suitable Rest
WTA – M. Sakkari (GRE) or L. Fernandez (CAN) vs [7] M. Keys (USA)
Quarter-finals – TBA – ATP – [1] T. Fritz (USA) or [15] A. Murray (GBR) vs [11] C. Eubanks (USA) or J. Thompson (AUS)
GRANDSTAND start 17:00
Semi-finals – ATP – [WC] M. McDonald (USA) / B. Shelton (USA) vs [3] L. Glasspool (GBR) / H. Heliovaara (FIN)
Not Before 19:00
Third Round – ATP – [12] T. Griekspoor (NED) vs [WC] G. Monfils (FRA), 6-4, 1-6, 1-0
Not Before 20:00
Third Round – ATP – A. Shevchenko vs [9] D. Evans (GBR), 0-0
Not Before 22:00
Quarter-finals – ATP – [5] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [13] U. Humbert (FRA)
Quarter-finals – ATP – [16] J. Wolf (USA) vs [12] T. Griekspoor (NED) or [WC] G. Monfils (FRA)
COURT 4 start 17:00
WTA – [OSE] L. Siegemund (GER) / V. Zvonareva vs L. Kichenok (UKR) / N. Kichenok (UKR)
WTA – A. Guarachi (CHI) / M. Niculescu (ROU) vs [2] S. Aoyama (JPN) / G. Dabrowski (CAN)
READ MORE: What Andy Murray needs to do next after impressive Washington win
