American Taylor Fritz rallies from two sets down to beat world No. 4 Alex Zverev before post-match exchange at net
By Thomas Schlachter, CNN
(CNN) — Taylor Fritz advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a gripping comeback win from two sets down – 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 6-3 – against Alex Zverev on Monday.
After two sets, the match was firmly in world No. 4 Zverev’s control. The 27-year-old stormed to a two-set lead and looked pumped up against a deflated Fritz.
But a 6-4 win in the third set brought life back to the American and he didn’t look back.
The 26-year-old carried the momentum into the remainder of the match-up and took the next two sets to take the thrilling five-set win.
The match lasted three hours and 29 minutes before Fritz’s backhand winner sealed his place in the quarterfinals.
“Yeah, really happy obviously,” Fritz told reporters after the match. “I think second time in the quarters, but when you do it like that, I think it feels even better than the last time.”
Despite the loss, Zverev said he was proud he continued to battle until the final point.
“Could be feeling better, but all in all, I’m proud there was fighting ‘til the end,” a downcast Zverev told reporters afterwards. “Obviously, not an easy loss.”
Zverev also added that he was on “one leg” throughout the match with an injury.
Following the match, Zverev and Fritz had a long exchange at the net where the German made his feelings clear about some of the members in Fritz’s box.
“His team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physio and also his second coach they are extremely respectful.
“But I think there are some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe particularly watching every single match and they were a bit over the top,” Zverev said on the exchange.
The 2024 French Open finalist went on to say that it was “no drama” and that he thinks Fritz is a “great guy.”
The American maintained that there were no real issues between the pair at the net.
“At the net, it’s no big deal,” Fritz added, confirming that Zverev felt annoyed at some people in his box being loud.
“I don’t really hear my box when I’m playing like that, so I didn’t hear anyone being extremely loud. He’s totally allowed to be annoyed if they were being annoying,” Fritz added.
Fritz now faces Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals following his four-set win against France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
The-CNN-Wire
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