Taylor Fritz survives ‘sharp pain’, Sebastian Korda reaches semi-finals Dallas | ATP tour | Tennis

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Fritz survives ‘sharp pain’, Korda reaches the Dallas semi-finals

The top seed will face former world number 3 on Saturday
February 13, 2026

Taylor Fritz survived a razor-thin match and an injury scare on Friday to beat Sebastian Korda 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) for a place in the semifinals of the Nexo Dallas Open.

At 4-5, 30/15 first set, Fritz hit a tricky backhand move that led to sharp pain and a visit to the physio in the same match. After talking all week about injuries he’s dealt with over the past year, it was an alarming sight.

“That was a weird one. He hit a really hard return and so I had to hit a kind of backhand and the way I did [hit it]I think I just jammed my elbow. It was a hard-hit ball, so I think the way I hit it behind me and extended my elbow, I immediately felt a very sharp pain in my elbow,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “I walked over to the towel box, I felt it and I thought, ‘I’ll try to hit a serve.’ Luckily I made it and it wasn’t a bad serve as the ball came back and I couldn’t hit the next ball. It was such a sharp pain.”

Fritz had been working on the injury and still felt the pain, but not as intensely. He had several visits from the physio, which he said helped.

“It felt like it was better and then I started to get some confidence in it. And then I served one that gave me the exact same pain and it’s such a sharp pain… like I can barely hold the racket. No chance I can hit the next ball,” Fritz said. “It was weird, but then I got the painkillers and as the match went on I didn’t feel it anymore. I could rely on it and I had no pain for the whole third set, most of the second set.”

Still, Fritz had to deal with Korda, who served at 5/4 in the tiebreak of the final set. But the former No. 15 player in the PIF ATP Rankings made back-to-back forehand errors, allowing Fritz to escape. The top seed hit 22 aces and saved all four break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Fritz will next face former world number 3 Marin Cilic, who stormed past breakthrough Brit Jack Pinnington Jones 6-1, 6-4 in just 78 minutes.

The Croatian, a 21-time tour-level champion, is chasing his first ATP Tour title since Hangzhou in 2024. Fritz leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but they have not played since 2022.