Taylor Fritz recovered from a lull during the match, during which he was treated by trainers for foot issues and reached the Wimbledon semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.
He is the first American since John Isner in 2018 to reach the Grass Court slum stage.
No. 5 seed Fritz, runner-up at last year’s US Open, scored a 1-4 record in the major quarter final, and was 0-2 at Wimbledon. He will now meet Spanish two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Britain’s unseeded Cam Nolly for a final appearance.
Fritz has been rolling since the calendar turned over into lawn season, with a 13-1 record on the surface, including the pair’s titles at Stuttgart and Eastbourne. This was the most grassy victory on the ATP Tour, and the most won by American men during the season since the start of the ATP Tour in 1990.
Fritz headed for a big early lead against 17th-placed Kachanov, scoring 40 of his 47 service points in the first two sets, not facing a chance to rest in that range.
But then, two semi-finalist Khachanov grabbed eight of nine games. Fritz took a medical timeout and removed the right shoe and socks so that the trainer could retype his feet.
Khachanov broke to start the fourth set in a game where Fritz’s top serve was 117 mph, 18 mph later than the fastest match at that point. He looked up at the guest box and slammed his racket into his thigh. Perhaps it shows he is dealing with fatigue.
However, from the fourth 2-0, Fritz began regaining his strength and touch, only two points from his three total wins during the 5-4 and 6-5 rise. However, Kachanov got things to the tiebreaker, whose score was 4-All before Fritz claimed the final point trio.
Fritz finished with 16 aces and reached a top speed of 138 mph by the end.
Kachanov, who has never passed the Wimbledon quarter-finals, fell 0-11 in a grand slam match against top-five-ranked opponents.
Fritz joins Francis Tiafoe and Ben Shelton as the only American man who has had multiple major semi-finals. But Fritz is the first active American to reach the semifinals in a non-hard court major.
Shelton is looking to join him on Wednesday if he can pass the number one Janik Thinner, the world’s No. 1. The last Wimbledon to feature two American men in the semi-finals was in 2000 (Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi).
The US has not had a male Wimbledon finalist since Andy Roddick in 2009.
Fritz is chasing his first Grand Slam title – and Wimbledon has not won his first major championship since Roger Federer in 2003. The first time in 20 straight Wimbledon runs without a major champion is the longest winning streak in tournament history.
ESPN research and Associated Press contributed to this report.
