Taylor Fritz Pulls Off Comeback Against Alexander Zverev To Make It A Pair Of Americans In Wimbledon Quarters
Taylor Fritz was done and dusted, out for the count, down tremendously, and whatever other negative saying you want to throw out there during his Round of 16 match Monday against Germany's Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon.
But then, he wasn't.
After losing the opening set 6-4 and losing the second set in a tiebreak, the third set felt like a moment in which Fritz could simply lay down despite playing more-than-solid tennis up to that point of the match. He spoke after completing the comeback about it not feeling right to go out in straight sets, so he plotted his way through the third frame winning 6-4 and all of a sudden found himself in a dog fight.
Late in the fourth set there seemed to be a turning point in which Fritz looked like the more fit player on the court, especially during his dominant 7-3 tiebreak victory to force things to a fifth set. Fritz mentioned Zverev said something about his left knee acting up late in the match, which he wore a brace on, during a rather long meeting at the net after the American cruised to a 6-3 fifth-set win.
On top of arguably playing his best tennis of 2024 and winning matches, Fritz has been incredibly entertaining along the way.
The 26-year-old took down Arthur Rinderknech in the second round of the Grand Slam and told the Frenchman to "have a good flight home" not once, but twice while shaking his hand at the net. He was also caught shouting "fu-- that guy" while looking toward his coach's box and pointing at Rinderknech.
Fritz is into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the second time in his career (2022) and is joined by fellow American Tommy Paul, who earned his way into the quarters for the first time in his career with a win Sunday over Roberto Bautista Agut.
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Americans have struggled mightily at Wimbledon on the men's side throughout the entirety of the 21st century, with Pete Sampras being the last American man to win the championship in 2000.
Outside of a five-set thriller against Otto Virtanen in the second round, Paul has made things look far too easy on the grass courts having won each of his last two matches in straight sets. Things get far more difficult for the 27-year-old in the quarterfinals, however, with Carlos Alcaraz standing on the other side of the court.
While Paul will be the underdog against Alcaraz, Fritz will be favored in his quarterfinals match against 25th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Having two Americans on to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon is a win, but having one, if not two, among the final four standing, would be a huge step for men's tennis in the U.S.