Taylor Fritz pushed to the limit by Landaluce in Stuttgart

American tennis player Taylor Fritz, the defending champion and second seed at the Stuttgart Open, survived a fierce challenge from Spanish teenager Martín Landaluce, reaching the quarterfinals after a grueling match. Landaluce, making his debut against Fritz, pushed the world number nine to the brink, holding a match point in the second set.

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Landaluce was two points away from victory, when he was leading 5-4 and 0-30 in the second set.

The match, which lasted two and a half hours, saw Fritz ultimately prevail with a score of 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(3). This victory marks Fritz's first since the Miami Masters 1000, having been sidelined by chronic tendinitis in his right knee. Landaluce, a Madrid native, had previously defeated Paul-Henri Herbert in the first round.

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Fritz had not achieved a victory since the Miami 1,000 Masters, in the fourth round, surpassed by Czech Jiri Lehecka, due to chronic tendinitis in his right knee.

Fritz, known for his grass-court prowess with half of his five career titles on the surface, including last year's Stuttgart event, will now face Italy's Mattia Bellucci in the quarterfinals. Bellucci advanced by defeating Germany's Yannik Hanfmann. Meanwhile, other notable players like Nick Kyrgios, a wildcard entry, were eliminated in the second round by Japan's Sho Shimabukuro.

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The American, a grass-court specialist, on which he has achieved half of his titles, five, including this one in Stuttgart last year, avoided defeat against Landaluce and progressed to the quarterfinals.