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Jon Bon Jovi was in attendance at the Delray Beach Open as he watched the ATP 250 tournament's semifinals on Saturday (February), which featured four American stars including Taylor Fritz.
The first semifinal saw second seed Frances Tiafoe face third seed Tommy Paul. Tiafoe had started his Delray Beach Open campaign in the Round of 16 after receiving a first-round bye. He defeated Radu Albot in the Round of 16 and proceeded to beat Flavio Cobolli convincingly in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-2.
Paul, similar to Tiafoe, received a first-round bye. In the Round of 16, he defeated Alex Michelsen. He then faced Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals and sealed the match 6-4, 6-3. In the semis, Paul thoroughly outclassed Tiafoe 6-2, 6-2. It marks Paul's second consecutive final after he won the Dallas Open recently.
In the second semifinal, defending champion and top seed Taylor Fritz faced unseeded Marcos Giron. Fritz had reached the semifinal after defeating Australian Open surprise package Nuno Borges in the Round of 16, and Rinky Hijikata 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Giron, who came into the Delray Beach Open after finishing as the runner-up at the Dallas Open, started his campaign in the Round of 32, where he dispatched Emilio Nava. In the Round of 16, he defeated fourth seed Adrian Mannarino before downing Patrick Kypson 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. However, defending champion Fritz proved too much for Giron to handle in the semis, as the top seed won 7-6(8), 6-2.
As the semifinals were on, cameras caught Jon Bon Jovi sitting in the stands. The legendary rockstar, famed for songs such as 'Livin' On A Prayer', 'Always', and 'It's My Life', was in a peach-colored Adidas t-shirt. The 61-year-old also wore a matching cap and had sunglasses on as well.
Taylor Fritz will face Tommy Paul for a fifth time in the Delray Beach Open final
Fritz and Paul have faced each other on four different occasions in the past at the ATP Tour level. The pair's first meeting came at the 2021 St. Petersburg Open in the Round of 16, which Fritz won 7-6(3), 6-4. Next time around, they clashed at the 2021 Stockholm Open in another Round-of-16 encounter. On this occasion, however, it was Paul who emerged victorious after a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Fritz took the lead in his head-to-head record against Paul once again at the 2022 Miami Open. This time around, the pair met in the Round of 32, and the current World No. 9 won 7-6(2), 6-4. Paul leveled things up once again after clinching their next encounter in the semifinals of the 2023 Acapulco Open 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(2).
