Washington, August 5 : Taylor Fritz went 2 for 2 at the DC Open to reach the semifinals, first beating Andy Murray in a three-setter briefly interrupted by climate protesters and then heading out onto a different court three hours later to eliminate Jordan Thompson at night. Fritz vs. Murray was one of several matches canceled on Thursday because of rain, jumbling the schedule at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open and forcing some players to compete twice on Friday. DC Open 2023: Gael Monfils Returns to the Circuit With a First-Round Win Over Bjorn Fratangelo

Fritz, a 25-year-old from California who is the top-ranked American man at No. 9, saved all seven break points he faced in the third set and hit 17 aces with tennis balls he deemed “awful” en route to a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 victory against Murray, a 36-year-old from Britain who earned three Grand Slam titles before he had two hip operations. That one, which Fritz said was played at an “insanely high level,” lasted more than three hours with the temperature in the mid-80s Fahrenheit (around 30 Celsius) and 60% humidity.

Then Fritz raised his season victory total to 41 — only No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev have more — by beating Thompson 6-3, 6-3 in a much quicker contest: 1 hour, 17 minutes. “My body probably couldn't have handled another battle like I had with Andy,” said Fritz, who'll face No. 12 seed Tallon Griekspoor on Saturday for a berth in the final.

“I can't say I've experienced this — playing three hours with the heaviest balls in the world in humid conditions and having to turn around and play again,” Fritz said. He said he couldn't recall playing back-to-back matches like that since he was a kid. He spent the time between facing Murray and Thompson like this: “I biked a little bit. Cooled down. Got some food in me. Immediately just started drinking, trying to get a lot of electrolytes in me, not just water. Then showered and got in an ice bath for five, six minutes. Then I just ... laid down and relaxed for 30 minutes or so. Then it was time to start doing all my pre-match stuff, so I just got right back into it.” ATP Rankings 2023: Carlos Alcaraz Remains World Number One; Arthur Fils Enters Top Fifty.

Murray couldn't remember the last time he played two matches in a day.

“It's pretty rare that it happens,” he said. “There is not necessarily, like, a strategy for that. Because it's so rare, you just try and focus on the first match. And then if you get through it, try and rest and recover as much as you can before going out there. But it's far from ideal.” Before facing Fritz, Thompson finished off a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 11 Chris Eubanks in a match suspended late in the first set Thursday.

Griekspoor finished beating Gael Monfils in a match suspended Thursday in the third set, then went out and defeated J.J. Wolf 7-5, 6-4. No. 2 seed Frances Tiafoe also had double duty, first beating qualifier Shang Juncheng 6-2, 6-3, then taking on No. 9 Dan Evans about 2 1/2 hours later in the main stadium.

The winner of Tiafoe vs. Evans takes on No. 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday. Dimitrov had a much simpler workday on Friday: He moved into the semifinals when No. 13 Ugo Humbert withdrew before their match with an injured left leg. In women's action, top-seeded Jessica Pegula reached the final four by coming back to edge Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 across more than two hours. Pegula saved six break points in the third set — five at 3-2, and the last while serving out the victory.

Svitolina, who returned to the tour in April after having a baby in October, was coming off a semifinal run last month at Wimbledon, where she eliminated No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Pegula is a 29-year-old American who won the hard-court tournament in the nation's capital in 2019 for one of her two WTA singles titles and claimed the doubles trophy in Washington last year. The six-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist will face No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari in the semifinals.

On Friday, Sakkari first won her rain-postponed fourth-round match against 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-2, then eliminated 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Madison Keys 6-3, 6-3. DC Open 2023: Gael Monfils Returns to the Circuit With a First-Round Win Over Bjorn Fratangelo.

Defending champion Liudmila Samsonova beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 6-2 and will face 2022 French Open finalist Coco Gauff in the semifinals Saturday. Gauff defeated Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-2 on Friday night. “This is the tennis that I have been trying to play,” Gauff said. “From the first point of the match, I tried to tell myself that I'm going to be aggressive in the moments that I need to.”