LONDON – After Taylor Fritz delivered a backhand that Alexander Zverev couldn’t even follow, sealing the American’s comeback from two sets down in their fourth-round match at Wimbledon on Monday, the men gathered at the net for a conversation that lasted longer than usual.
Zverev, who played with a bruised right knee, said he was bothered by the cheering from Fritz’s guest box in the fifth set. When Fritz tried to break away, the 27-year-old German stuck out his chest to block his path and continued the largely one-sided exchange.
That wasn’t the 13th-seeded Fritz’s only notable post-match interaction at the All England Club in those two weeks – he wished a previous opponent “a safe flight home” – but the 26-year-old from California shrugged and preferred to reflect on how he turned things around and defeated a two-time Grand Slam finalist – beating No. 4 Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 – and reached the quarterfinals of the major grass-court tournament.
“It was incredible,” said Fritz, “to do that on Centre Court at Wimbledon, two sets behind.”
Zverev later said that his concern was not for Fritz or his two coaches, but for others in the winning fan circle, “who perhaps do not come from the tennis world, who are perhaps not used to watching every single match; they were a bit exaggerated.”
Fritz, who next faces 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti, who reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time, said Zverev was “completely fine with being annoyed if they were annoying. … That’s one of the things I asked him at the net: ‘Who was it?'”
“It’s no big deal,” Fritz added. “It’s all good.”
Zverev was suggesting that his entourage should not be so nervous because his knee, which he had wrapped in a grey cuff after a fall in the previous round, had such a big impact on the outcome of Monday’s match.
“I played on one leg,” said Zverev. “It was pretty obvious that I wasn’t at 100% today, wasn’t it? I didn’t move the whole match. I didn’t run to drop shots. When I ran to drop shots, I was limping rather than running.”
The 3.5-hour match, played under the roof of the main stadium, was the 35th to go to five sets at Wimbledon this year, equalling the record for most matches at a major in the Open Era that began in 1968. Fritz’s comeback is the 11th from a two-set deficit in this edition of Wimbledon, more than in any other year at an event that dates back to 1877.
For Fritz, it will be his fourth quarter-final at a major tournament and his second at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in 2022. At this point, he is 0-3; his other two setbacks were against Novak Djokovic, who holds a record with 24 Grand Slam titles in men’s singles.
“This will be my first quarter-final in which I am the more experienced player,” said Fritz.
Fritz joins his good pal Tommy Paul in the last eight, making it the first time the U.S. has had two men this far in the tournament since 2000. In the other quarterfinal in the bottom half of the men’s singles draw, No. 9 Alex de Minaur will face seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, who swept No. 15 Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the final match on Centre Court on Monday night.
Spectators often made loud noises that sounded like “Ruuuuuune” – the 21-year-old Dane is often greeted this way during matches – but Djokovic thought the people in the stands were shouting “Boooo” and let them know he was not happy about it.
Musetti gave Italy three singles quarterfinalists at a major for the first time – he made it alongside No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s singles, No. 7 Jasmine Paolini is still in the women’s singles – by defeating Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Australian De Minaur eliminated Frenchman Arthur Fils 6:2, 6:4, 4:6 and 6:3.
Winners of the women’s fourth round included 2022 champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, 21st seed Elina Svitolina – who wore a black ribbon on her shirt to mourn the victims of Russian missile attacks on her native Ukraine – and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Rybakina will face Svitolina in the quarterfinals, and Ostapenko’s next opponent will be 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
Rybakina advanced when No. 17 Anna Kalinskaya stopped playing because of a wrist injury, Svitolina overwhelmed Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-1, Krejcikova defeated No. 11 Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-3 and Ostapenko won 6-2, 6-3 against Yulia Putintseva, who had knocked out No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round.
Fourth-seeded Zverev finished runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open last month – after blowing a 2-1 lead in sets. Zverev also lost in the final of the 2020 US Open to Dominic Thiem – after blowing a two-set lead and a match point.
Zverev began the week by winning all nine sets he played at Wimbledon this year and winning all 41 of his service games, without suffering a single break point since the first round. The key stat from Monday: Fritz collected four break points and converted two – once in the third and once in the fifth set – while suffering just one break himself.
Fritz hit 15 aces without a single double fault and together they scored 124 winners (69 by Fritz) and 56 unforced errors (23 by Fritz).
In 2024, he is now 10-1 on grass and has won eight matches in a row, including a title at a preparatory event in Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon began.
“What I enjoy most about grass,” said Fritz, “is that you are rewarded every time you hit a good shot.”
