Andy Murray came up just short in a three-hour marathon in Washington DC against the world No 9, Taylor Fritz, in a Mubadala Citi Open last-16 match briefly held up by a climate protest.

The 36-year-old, runner-up in this tournament 17 years ago, won the first set on a tie-break and looked to be closing on another of his occasional statement wins since his comeback from hip surgery, when he had three break points for a 4-2 lead in the deciding set.

But Fritz, the event’s top seed, managed to repel all three and went on to wrap up his 40th win in 2023, by a final scoreline of 6-7 (2) 6-3 6-4. The American No 1 went on to beat Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-3 in his quarter-final match later on Friday, and will face the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor in the semi-finals.

Fritz’s epic encounter with Murray was held up while a group of protesters who had thrown giant tennis balls on to the court were escorted from the stand. Murray had already smashed his racket against the floor after dropping serve in the first game, throwing in two double-faults among six unforced errors.

Murray was a point away from a 3-0 deficit but improved as the set wore on and broke back for 5-5 as Fritz served for it, saving two set points before converting his first break point with a drop shot. The Briton dominated the tie-break and took the first set after 87 minutes with a forehand winner.

Climate Defiance, a local climate activist group in DC, chanted and threw oversized balls on to the court. Photograph: Eric Kayne/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Fritz shook off his frustration and locked straight back in to break at the start of the second on his way to levelling the match. The 25-year-old survived those break points at 3-2 down in the decider, before a Murray double-fault gifted Fritz three chances to break, taking the second when his opponent’s backhand drifted long.

In a dramatic final game, Murray brought up three break-back points at 0-40 but Fritz survived them all and then squandered two match points before converting the third. After the match, he offered short shrift to the protesters who disrupted the match.

“I get they’re protesting, but there’s just got to be a better way to do it,” Fritz told reporters. “I don’t understand how people are going to get behind a cause when you’re ruining everyone else’s good time. Like, it doesn’t really make sense to me.”

“It’s annoying, obviously, when they do it. It’s ruining everyone’s time. Everyone wants to watch the tennis. I jokingly said, ‘Honestly, this makes me want to go fly on jets more’,” Fritz added. “I think they’re supporting a good cause, but the way they’re doing it ... who’s going to want to listen when they’re just annoying everybody?”

Dan Evans continued his return to form, winning two matches on Friday to book a semi-final with Grigor Dimitrov. The British No 2 had lost eight of his last nine matches before arriving in the US capital, but saw off Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 6-3, and then upset Frances Tiafoe in his quarter-final.

Evans broke the American second seed in the opening game of both sets and was able to overcome 16 aces from Tiafoe with some superb attacking tennis, particularly down the stretch, to win 6-4, 7-5 at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.

Coco Gauff reaches for a forehand during her comfortable win over Belinda Bencic. Photograph: Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports

In the WTA event, Coco Gauff advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Belinda Bencic. The game was paused when a fan in the stadium fell ill, but medical staff were able to quickly address the issue. After the game, Gauff revealed she had recently taken a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course.

“At first I was just making sure that it wasn’t something cardiac,” Gauff said. “I just took a CPR class, so if they needed me to jump in I was ready. I have my certification. I did ask the ref if it was cardiac. I’m sure there are more professional people out here, but she said it wasn’t ... that’s when I realised the person will probably be OK.”

“Everybody in the stadium should take the class,” the world No 7 added. “It took 90 minutes. I booked it on the flight from Wimbledon ... it’s really informative.” Gauff will play Liudmila Samsonova in the semi-finals, with Jessica Pegula facing Maria Sakkari on the other side of the draw.