Can rising American Taylor Fritz topple Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon?
WIMBLEDON, England — Drenched in sweat and with a dejected expression, a devastated Taylor Fritz left the court at the All England Club in 2022.
It was the first major quarterfinal appearance of his career. He had come so close to pulling off the upset over 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal on Centre Court — and nearly closed it out in the fourth set — but with the eyes of the tennis world on him and the stakes at their highest, Fritz fell in a fifth-set tiebreaker. Nadal, who had struggled throughout the match with an abdominal injury, would later withdraw ahead of his semifinal match, and Fritz was left wondering what could have been.
Fritz had his chance to rectify the loss two years later when he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon yet again. Playing Lorenzo Musetti this time, it was Fritz who was the favorite and he looked poised to reach his first Slam semifinal. He convincingly took the first set before dropping the next two. He was resurgent in the fourth set to force a decider. But, yet again, it was not to be. He lost in the fifth set.
But on Tuesday, Fritz refused to let history repeat itself. The American and No. 5 seed — who has won two grass titles and recorded a US Open final appearance since that disappointing day last July — used his past experiences and pain to fuel him to a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov.
In a brief moment, everything he had been through seemed worth it as he advanced to his first semifinal at Wimbledon. The typically stoic Fritz, 27, roared to the crowd after match point, and couldn’t stop smiling during his postmatch interview on the court moments later.
“Obviously having played the quarterfinals here twice and lost in five, twice, I don’t think I could have taken another one,” Fritz said candidly to those in the stands at No. 1 Court. “So I’m happy. I’m really happy I’m going to get to play the semis here.”
Fritz will now have a chance to reach his first final at the All England Club — and become the first American man to do so since Andy Roddick in 2009 — when he takes on two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
He believes all of his previous matches, at Wimbledon, the US Open and the heartbreaks in between, have improved his game and his chances to go even further.
“I’ve gotten to the point where [reaching the quarterfinals] just doesn’t feel like it’s such a big deal,” Fritz said in his news conference on Tuesday afternoon. “When you have that feeling, it allows you to just play your best tennis in the situation and the moment.
“I also really do think I’m a much better tennis player than I was a year ago or even two years ago. I think right now I’m playing at a much higher level in tennis than I was.”
Wimbledon has always held a special place in Fritz’s heart.
Even before he had ever played a match on grass, he knew he would do well on the surface and was certain it suited his game style. And, as he soon discovered, he was right. He had his breakthrough as a junior player at Wimbledon in 2014, as a 16-year-old, when he reached his first major boy’s semifinal and did it again the following year.
He didn’t have the same immediate results as a professional in the main draw, failing to advance past the second round during his four appearances. But he won the first ATP title of his career on grass at Eastbourne in 2019 and knew what he was capable of.
Determined to play in 2021, despite being just three weeks removed from surgery for a torn meniscus, Fritz was devastated when he lost in the third round to Alexander Zverev and saw his ranking fall outside of the top 40.
After the loss, his girlfriend Morgan Riddle encouraged him to write down his feelings while on the bus leaving the site. He penned a note on her phone shortly after.
“Nobody in the whole world is underachieving harder than you,” he angrily wrote in a note Riddle shared on social media in 2023. “You are so f—ing good but 40 in the world get your f—ing s— together.”
Asked about the letter on court on Tuesday, Fritz said it was “never supposed to be public” but was “really happy” with how he had turned his career around over the past four years. “I’ve put in a lot of work and it’s great to see the results,” he added.
The following season, the one after his ranting letter to himself, would prove to be a banner year. He reached the fourth round at the 2022 Australian Open before defeating Nadal in the final at Indian Wells for what remains the biggest title of his career. There was then another title at Eastbourne and the quarterfinal run at Wimbledon. His ranking surged and he made his top-10 debut in October.
Since then, Fritz has been a mainstay in the top 10 and has won six more titles. In September, he became the first American man to reach a Slam final since 2009 at the US Open. He lost to Jannik Sinner, 3-6, 4-6, 5-7, but proved his status among the game’s best with his triumphant run. By season’s end he had reached the championship match at the year-end ATP Finals (losing again to Sinner) and reached a career-high ranking of No. 4.
Long believed to be the best hope to end the now-almost-22-year drought for major titles among American men, Fritz has been the leader of the contingent and dealt with the scrutiny and questions that come with the mantle.
“I feel like Fritz had been that guy for all American tennis over the past eight years or so,” his friend and current world No. 13 Tommy Paul told ESPN earlier this spring. “He has absolutely led the way. Every generation needs that guy, and I think it’s awesome it’s him.”
But he hardly seemed like “that guy” during a challenging start to his season, in which he lost in the third round at the Australian Open and was upset in his opener at the French Open. Fritz found a way to turn things around on the grass, which he called his best surface this week. He recorded his fifth straight victory over Zverev — the man who had partially sparked his letter to himself in 2021 — to claim the title at Stuttgart last month, and then he earned his record-extending fourth trophy at Eastbourne two days before the main draw began at Wimbledon.
His momentum has yet to slow at the All England Club. He needed deciding sets, and a combined four tiebreaks, in his first two matches, against a pair of big servers in Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo, and his 109 total games through the first two rounds were the third most in history. Fritz has looked far more in control since, needing four sets against No. 26 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round and taking a 6-1, 3-0 lead over Jordan Thompson before the Australian retired with injury.
On Tuesday, Fritz was dominant in the opening two sets against Khachanov before the tape strapped to his right foot ripped and began to hinder his movement. He fell into a 5-0 deficit, and suddenly looked listless. His confidence appeared to plummet as he shrugged his shoulders in the direction of his player box. Calling it “uncomfortable,” he took a medical timeout after the lopsided third set, receiving treatment and a fresh taping on his foot. While Khachanov’s level remained high in the fourth set, Fritz was powered by his strong serve — he had four aces in the tiebreak alone — and he was determined to not find himself in a deciding set.
“I’m really happy with how I kind of came back in the fourth set and then got it done,” Fritz said later. “I think momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth.”
Fritz is now the first American man since John Isner in 2018 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and is just the third to do so since Roddick’s final appearance 16 years ago.
Fritz will next have the colossal task of taking on Alcaraz on Friday. Fresh off his memorable victory at the French Open, and his latest title on grass at Queen’s Club last month, Alcaraz rolled into the semifinals behind a dominant 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win over beloved British star Cameron Norrie on Tuesday. Alcaraz holds a 2-0 head-to-head record over Fritz, but they have never met on grass, and Alcaraz has shown moments of vulnerability throughout the tournament.
While Alcaraz will undoubtedly be favored entering the match, Fritz believes he can beat him.
“I think grass is very much so an equalizer,” Fritz told reporters on Tuesday. “It can be an equalizer. So trust in how I’m playing. I truly know the way that I played the first two sets today, there’s not much any opponent on the other side can do.”
Entering the match on Tuesday, Fritz had the fourth-best odds of winning the Wimbledon title according to ESPN BET. With Alcaraz as his semifinal opponent, and with No. 1 Sinner and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic remaining on the other side of the draw and playing their respective quarterfinal matches on Wednesday, those odds likely won’t change. But he still is just two matches away from the biggest title of his life.
Fritz is aware of what’s on the line and the history he could make. But he also has been there before. After his quarterfinal match he said he didn’t think he would ever experience anything more pressure-filled than his semifinal match against his friend and fellow American Frances Tiafoe during last year’s US Open.
But that win, and having played in the final in New York some 10 months ago, has provided him with self-belief.
And now he knows he can do it.
“It’s given me a lot of confidence in those moments and situations, just having been there, that I can do it again.”