Taylor Fritz moved one step closer to claiming the singles title at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Thursday, but not before his win over Sebastian Korda was disrupted by some unexpected drama.
That was after a ball girl fainted in the Monaco sun while she was tending to Korda, who fell to his American countryman in straight sets. Fritz emerged a 7-6 (4), 7-5 victor to reach the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo for the first time in his career.
Serving as evidence to the gruelling conditions those around the court must bear as well as the players, the ball girl in question collapsed towards the end of the match. Medics at Monte Carlo Country Club ran to attend, but the girl was thankfully strong enough to walk off the court herself a few minutes later.
Both players showed concern for the girl as she was tended to. Korda in particular looked ill at ease considering her collapse happened right behind where he was seated.
The incident occurred shortly before the match's penultimate game, where Fritz went on to seal a convincing win and improve his impressive record of late. The 24-year-old has reached the last eight in four of his last five ATP Masters 1000 events since the 2021 Indian Wells Masters in October 2021.
Fritz's victory was that much more awkward considering he and Korda were playing as doubles partners in Monte Carlo. The American pair were ousted from the running later on Thursday after losing to Jamie Murray and Rohan Bopanna.
It's hardly a surprise the ball girl in question caved under the conditions, with the temperatures in Monte Carlo reaching the mid-to-high 20s (degrees centigrade) on Thursday. It also not the first time a ball boy or girl has collapsed during high profile matches.
A ball girl fainted in a similar way duing the Australian Open in January this year. She was helped by Pedro Martinez and Federico Delbonis during the match, a first-round encounter in Melbourne, while there was also another incident at last year's edition of the same tournament. That incident took place during a match between Lloyd Harris and Mikael Torpegaard.
Fritz will now go on to face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who defeated Novak Djokovic in a massive upset this week. The pair will compete for a place in the semi-finals.
