American Taylor Fritz beats Alexander Zverev to reach Wimbledon quarterfinals

LONDON — After Taylor Fritz hit a backhand that Alexander Zverev just couldn’t catch and the American came from two sets down to win in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday, the two players faced each other at the net for a longer-than-usual conversation.

Zverev, who is playing through a bone bruise in his right knee, said he was a little bothered by the cheers he heard from Fritz’s guest box in the fifth set. When Fritz started to pull away, Zverev stuck out his chest to block his path, continuing the mostly one-sided battle.

That wasn’t the 13th-seeded Fritz’s only notable exchange after matches at the All England Club these past fortnight — he told his former opponent “have a nice flight home” — but he didn’t mind the exchange, more interested in thinking about how he turned the tables to beat two-time Grand Slam finalist Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

“To do it on Centre Court at Wimbledon and come two sets down was amazing,” said Fritz, 26, from California.

Zverev later said the problem was not with Fritz or his two coaches, but with other people in the winner’s cheering squad. “Maybe they’re not tennis people and they’re not used to watching every match. They went a bit too far,” he said.

“Obviously, if your opponent is loud, it’s going to annoy him. … One of the things I asked him at the net was, ‘Who was that?'” said Fritz, who next plays 25th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti, who is reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. “It’s no big deal. Everything’s fine.”

Zverev suggested his entourage didn’t need to get too excited because his knee, covered in a gray sleeve after a fall in the previous round, played such a big role in Monday’s outcome.

“I was playing on one leg,” Zverev said. “I was definitely not 100 percent today. I wasn’t moving at all during the match. I wasn’t running to hit a drop shot. If I was running to hit a drop shot, I was dragging my foot more than I was running.”

The 3 1/2-hour match, played with the retractable roof over the main stadium closed, marked the 35th match to go to five sets at Wimbledon this year, tying the most at a Grand Slam tournament since the Open Era began in 1968. Fritz’s comeback marked his 11th time coming from two sets down at the grass-court tournament, more than any other year.

For Fritz, this will be his fourth major quarterfinal and his second at Wimbledon, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in 2022. His record at that point is 0-3, with his other two losses coming against Novak Djokovic.

“This will be my first quarterfinal as a more experienced player,” Fritz said.

Fritz reached the quarterfinals along with his close friend Tommy Paul, marking the first time the United States has had two players advance that far in the tournament since 2000. The other quarterfinal in the men’s bottom half will be between world No. 9 Alex de Minaur and seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, who defeated world No. 15 Holger Run 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the final match on Centre Court on Monday night.

The crowd let out a loud yell that often sounded like a “roooooh” – the young Dane is often greeted that way during matches – but Djokovic seemed to think the fans in the stands were making a “boooooh” sound, letting the crowd know he was unhappy.

Musetti defeated Giovanni Mpetzi Pericard 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to give Italy three singles quarterfinalists for the first time. He joins world number one Jannik Sinner in the men’s quarterfinals, while world number seven Jasmine Paolini continues in the women’s quarterfinals. De Minaur defeated Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Winners in the women’s fourth round include 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, 21st seed Elina Svitolina, who wore a black ribbon on her shirt to honor the victims of the Russian missile attack on her native Ukraine, and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Rybakina will face Svitolina in the quarterfinals, while Ostapenko’s next opponent will be 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova.

Rybakina advanced to the next stage after 17th seed Anna Kalinskaya was forced to withdraw with a wrist injury, Svitolina overpowered Wang Xinyu 6-2, 6-1, Krejcikova beat 11th seed Danielle Collins 7-5, 6-3 and Ostapenko beat Yulia Putintseva, who had beaten top seed Iga Swiatek in the third round, 6-2, 6-3.

The fourth-seeded Zverev lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros last month, losing a 2-1 set lead. He also wasted a set-2 lead and match point in his loss to Dominic Thiem in the 2020 U.S. Open final.

The German entered Monday having won all nine sets he has played at Wimbledon this year, held all 41 of his service games and not faced a break point since the first round.

The key stats: Fritz had four break points and converted two of them, one in the third set and one in the fifth, while Fritz himself was only broken once.

Fritz hit 15 aces and zero double faults, and the pair combined for 124 winners (Fritz 69) and 56 unforced errors (Fritz 23).

He is currently 10-1 on grass courts in 2024 and has won eight straight matches, including a win at a tune-up event at Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon began.

“The most fun thing about being on grass is when you hit a good shot and you’re rewarded,” Fritz said.