Fritz comes back from the brink, defeats Zverev to reach second Wimbledon quarter-final

Taylor Fritz rallied back from the brink for the third time in his Grand Slam career, erasing a two-set deficit to defeat No 4-seeded Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3 on Monday evening on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

It was a rousing revival from the 13th-seeded American, who took advantage of Zverev’s slow fade down the stretch to join compatriot Tommy Paul in the quarter-finals, making it two American men in the last eight of a Wimbledon men’s singles draw for the first time since 2000.

“It was amazing to do that on Centre Court, Wimbledon, two sets down, in front of this crowd, it’s a dream,” Fritz said after earning his first ever top-5 win at a Grand Slam (1-9).

26-year-old Fritz, who won his third Eastbourne title two weeks ago, has now logged eight consecutive wins on grass.

For Zverev, who squandered a two sets to one lead against Carlos Alcaraz in the Roland-Garros final in June, it was a similarly deflating defeat. Sporting a grey knee sleeve on his left knee after suffering an injury in his third-round win over Cam Norrie, the German appeared to lack the vitality of movement over the course of the contest.

He had been unbreakable in his first three matches, and in the first two sets of Monday’s clash with Fritz, but he couldn’t maintain his perfection from the service stripe.

“I felt like I was still playing really well for being down two sets,” Fritz said. “I was just thinking that it would suck to be playing this well and just lose in three straight.

“I took it one at a time. I had that belief, even though I lost the first two sets I really felt like I was playing really good tennis and I felt like it was just a couple of points here and there. I felt like I could take it one set at a time and just turn it around.”

Fritz broke through against Zverev’s vaunted serve for 5-4 in the third set, then outlasted him in a fourth set that didn’t feature a single break point, leveling the contest with a pitch-perfect tiebreak.

In the fifth the American was at it again, breaking for 3-1 in the decider.

With that break in tow, Fritz served out his win in the tenth game to book his fourth career win over Zverev and his fourth career Grand Slam quarter-final.

Fritz comeback marks the 11th comeback from two sets to love down at Wimbledon this year, besting the previous record by two. The all-time record for comebacks from two sets to love down is 14.

Fritz has now reached the last eight in three of his last four Grand Slam appearances – he will face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti next at Wimbledon, as he seeks his first major semi-final appearance.

London (Grand Slam), other last 16 results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50.000.000, most recent results first):

• Holger Rune vs. Novak Djokovic
• Alex De Minaur (9) beat Arthur Fils: 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
• Lorenzo Musetti beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (LL): 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2
• Tommy Paul (12) beat Roberto Bautista Agut: 6-2, 7-6 (3), 6-2
• Daniil Medvedev (5) beat Grigor Dimitrov (10): 5-3 ret.
• Jannik Sinner (1) beat Ben Shelton (14): 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9)
• Carlos Alcaraz (3) beat Ugo Humbert (16): 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

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