Taylor Fritz defeats Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon, while Novak Djokovic has a confrontation with the audience.
LONDON (AP) — After Taylor Fritz sealed his comeback victory from a two-set deficit by hitting a backhand that Alexander Zverev didn’t even attempt to chase in their Wimbledon fourth-round match on Monday, the two players engaged in an unusually lengthy conversation at the net.
Zverev, who was playing with a bone bruise in his right knee, expressed frustration with some of the cheers from Fritz’s guest box during the fifth set. As Fritz tried to walk away, Zverev blocked his path with his chest and continued the mostly one-sided discussion.
This wasn’t Fritz’s only notable post-match interaction at Wimbledon this fortnight—he had previously told an earlier opponent to “have a nice flight home”—but he brushed off the incident with Zverev, focusing instead on his impressive turnaround to defeat the two-time Grand Slam finalist 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 and advance to the quarterfinals.
“It was amazing,” said Fritz, a 26-year-old from California. “To do that on Centre Court at Wimbledon, down two sets.”
Zverev later clarified that his issue wasn’t with Fritz or his coaches but with some overly enthusiastic members of Fritz’s support group who might not be as familiar with tennis etiquette. “He’s totally allowed to be annoyed if they were being annoying,” Fritz remarked, adding that he inquired about who Zverev was referring to but considered it a minor issue.
Zverev felt the excitement from the entourage was inappropriate given his injury, which had him struggling to move effectively throughout the match. “I was playing on one leg,” Zverev said. “It was quite obvious I wasn’t at my best.”
The match, which lasted 3.5 hours and was played under the Centre Court roof, tied the record for the most five-set matches at Wimbledon in the Open era. Fritz’s comeback from a two-set deficit was the 11th of its kind in this year’s tournament, the highest in any Wimbledon.
This quarterfinal will be Fritz’s fourth in a major and his second at Wimbledon, where he previously lost to Rafael Nadal in 2022. He is currently 0-3 in quarterfinals, with the other two defeats coming against Novak Djokovic.
Fritz’s progression to the final eight, alongside friend Tommy Paul, marks the first time since 2000 that the U.S. has had two men reach this stage. The other quarterfinal in the bottom half features No. 9 Alex de Minaur against seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, who advanced after a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 15 Holger Rune. Djokovic had a tense moment with the crowd, mistakenly believing they were booing him when they were actually cheering Rune.
Lorenzo Musetti’s win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard secured Italy three singles quarterfinalists at a major for the first time. Musetti joins No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the men’s bracket, while No. 7 Jasmine Paolini remains in the women’s field. De Minaur also advanced by defeating Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
In the women’s fourth round, 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, No. 21 seed Elina Svitolina—who wore a black ribbon in remembrance of Ukrainian missile attack victims—and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko all won their matches. Rybakina will face Svitolina in the quarterfinals, while Ostapenko will play 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova.
The fourth-seeded Zverev, who was the runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open last month and lost in the final of the 2020 U.S. Open, came into Monday’s match undefeated at Wimbledon this year and had not faced a break point. Fritz managed to convert two of his four break points and was broken only once. He served 15 aces without any double faults and recorded a total of 124 winners to Zverev’s 69, with 56 unforced errors compared to Zverev’s 23.
Fritz is now 10-1 on grass in 2024, including an eight-match winning streak that featured a title at Eastbourne the week before Wimbledon. “What I enjoy the most on grass,” he said, “is just when you hit a good shot, you’re rewarded for it.”
