Taylor Fritz advanced to the round of 16 at the Washington Open with a straight-sets win over Zizou Bergs, bringing up his 250th career victory on hard courts.

Fritz, who lost in the quarter-finals in the US capital last year and is seeded third for the 2026 event behind Alex de Minaur and Ben Shelton, overcame the Belgian 6-3 6-4.

An early break was enough for Fritz to take the opening set, with the American looking comfortable on serve until game nine, when he saved three break points to get over the line.

The second set followed a similar pattern after another Fritz break in game three, and he converted his first match point when Bergs could only return his serve into the net.

Fritz could come up against fellow home favourite Tommy Paul in the next round, should he overcome Poland's Kamil Majchrzak.

Fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti also progressed to the next round, doing so via a walkover after Matteo Arnaldi was forced to retire from their all-Italian matchup due to injury.

Returning to the court after missing Roland-Garros and Wimbledon with a thigh issue, Musetti had stormed into a 6-0 3-1 lead before Arnaldi was forced to throw in the towel.

In the women's singles draw, Emma Navarro defeated Sofia Kenin 6-0 7-5, while Leylah Fernandez beat Magda Linette 6-1 6-4 and Clara Tauson fell to Elisabetta Cocciaretto by a 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2) scoreline.

Fritz reaches 250-win milestone

Monday's victory was Fritz's 250th on hard courts at ATP level, with his career record on the surface now standing at 250-155.

He is the sixth player born since 1990 to achieve that feat, after Novak Djokovic (741 wins), Gael Monfils (393), Marin Cilic (379), Stan Wawrinka (344) and Daniil Medvedev (343).

Fritz's record at ATP 500 events this year now stands at 9-3, but he is yet to claim a title on the Tour this campaign following runner-up finishes at Dallas, Stuttgart and Halle.

Musetti, meanwhile, was making his first appearance since the Italian Open in May, having lost to Casper Ruud in the fourth round at the Foro Italico. 

This was his first victory on hard courts since he overcame Fritz in the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.