Taylor Fritz scores 22 aces to beat Marin Cilic and reaches Dallas final | ATP tour | Tennis

Dallas

Fritz scores 22 aces to beat Cilic and reach the Dallas final

Top seed to play Shelton or Shapovalov in Sunday’s final

February 14, 2026

Taylor Fritz stopped the run of the resurgent Marin Cilic in the semifinals of the Nexo Dallas Open on Saturday.

In a match decided by slim margins, the top seed held his nerve to beat the Croatian 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in a gripping two-hour, two-minute encounter, hammering 22 aces past the 37-year-old.

“Just serve very calmly. I think that’s the most important thing when I feel calm and relaxed, I serve well,” Fritz said in his on-court interview.

Both players dominated with big deliveries in a match without breaks. Fritz did not face a break point and hit 22 aces to Cilic’s 16, including four in the first set tiebreak, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Although he failed to convert any of his five break point chances, Fritz’s composure on serve ultimately made the difference as he won 86 percent (48/56) of his first-serve points.

“That is something every tennis player experiences when you are the one in the opponent’s service games,” said Fritz. “You have a few chances, you’re cruising through your service games and suddenly they get one break point, you probably win it. You go to the tiebreak, suddenly some returns came back and I told myself I really had to be ready in that tiebreak.”

With the win, Fritz took a 3-1 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and advanced to his first final on home soil after reaching the US Open final in 2024. He will face compatriot Ben Shelton or defending champion Denis Shapovalov in the title match.

Cilic was hoping to reach his first final above the ATP 250 level since winning the Queen’s Club title in 2018. With his semi-final in Dallas, the Croatian is 18 places higher to number 43 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.