Wimbledon, England – A sweat-drenched look on his face, a destroyed Taylor Fritz left the courthouse at the All-England Club in 2022.
It was the first major quarterfinals of his career. He pulled away the upset over 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal on the centre court, nearly closing it in four sets, but the eyes of the tennis world and the best stake fell to the tiebreaker in the fifth set. Having struggled during the match due to an abdominal injury, Nadal later wondered what Fritz could have done ahead of the semi-final match.
Fritz had the opportunity to correct his loss when he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon two years later. This time he played Lorenzo Musetti, and his favorite was Fritz, who seemed poised to reach his first slam semi-finals. He took the first set, compelling, before dropping the next two. He was resurrected in the fourth set to force the decision-maker. But again, it wasn’t. He lost in five sets.
However, on Tuesday, Fritz refused to repeat history. The American and No. 5 seed, who won two grass titles and recorded US open final appearances since the disappointing day in July last year, used his past experience and pain to promote a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over 17-seeded Karen Kachanoff.
In a brief moment, everything he went through seemed worth it as he reached his first semi-final at Wimbledon. The typical stoic Fritz, 27, roamed into the crowd after match points and couldn’t stop smiling in a post-match interview in court.
“I obviously played the quarterfinals here twice and lost five or two, so I don’t think I could have taken another,” Fritz told people in the first court stands honestly. “That’s why I’m happy. I’m really happy to be able to compete in the semi-finals here.”
Fritz has a chance to reach his first final at the All-England club and will become the first American since Andy Roddick in 2009 when he wins two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
He believes that all of his previous matches at Wimbledon have improved his game and the chances of going further.
“I’ve reached the point (to reach the quarterfinals). “When you have that feeling, it allows you to play your best tennis in the situation and the moment.
“I also really think of myself as a much better tennis player than I was a year or two ago. I think I’m playing at a much higher level in tennis right now.”
Wimbledon always has a special place in Fritz’s heart.
Even before he had a match with Grass, he knew he would do well on the surface and was sure it suited his style of game. And as he quickly discovered, he was right. He had a breakthrough as a junior player at Wimbledon in 2014, and at age 16, he reached the first boys semi-finals, and did it again the following year.
He didn’t have the same immediate results as the main draw experts, and he couldn’t move forward past the second round during his four appearances. However, he won the first ATP title of his career with Grass in Eastbourne in 2019 and knew what he could do.
Deciding to play in 2021, Fritz saw his ranking drop outside the top 40 after being ruled out of a torn Meniscus surgery for just three weeks, losing to Alexander Zverev in the third round.
After the loss, his girlfriend Morgan Riddle encouraged him to write down his feelings when he boarded the bus and left the scene. He soon wrote a note on her phone.
“No one in the world has achieved more vigorously than you,” he wrote angrily in a 2023 notebook he shared on social media.
Asked about the court letter on Tuesday, Fritz said it was “never publicly available,” but was “really happy” with the way it changed his career over the past four years. “I’ve done a lot of work and it’s great to see the results,” he added.
The following season, the season after his rant letter, proves to be the year of Banner. He defeated Nadal in the final at the Indian Wells after reaching the fourth round at the 2022 Australia Open, continuing to be the biggest title of his career. There was then another title in Eastbourne and the quarterfinals were held at Wimbledon. His rankings skyrocketed, and he made his top 10 debut in October.
Since then, Fritz has been a top 10 main player and has won six more titles. In September he became the first American since 2009 to reach the Slam Finals at the US Open. He lost to Jannik Sinner 3-6, 4-6, 5-7, but proved his best position in the game with his winning run. By the end of the season, he had reached the championship match at the ATP Finals at the end of the year (losing again to a sinner) and reached the fourth-place career-high ranking.
Long believed to be the best hope for an end to a drought of up to 22 years of major titles among Americans, Fritz was the leader of the condition and addressed the scrutiny and question that accompanied the mantle.
“I feel like Fritz was an all-American tennis guy in the last eight years or so,” his friend, the current world No. 13 Tommy Paul, told ESPN earlier this spring. “He absolutely took the lead. Every generation needs that guy. I think it’s him.”
However, he didn’t look like “that guy” during the challenging start of the season. He lost in the third round at the Australian Open and was upset by the French Open opener. Fritz found a way to turn things around on the grass. He recorded his fifth straight victory over Zverev, the man who partially caused a letter to himself in 2021 to win the title in Stuttgart last month, winning the record fourth trophy at Eastbourne two days before the main draw began at Wimbledon.
His momentum is not too late for the All England Club. He needed four tiebreaks, combining a set and four tiebreaks against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo’s big servers in his first two matches. Fritz needed four sets against No. 26 Alejandro Davidevich Fokina in the third round, appearing to be far more control since leading Jordan Thompson 6-1, 3-0 before Australia retired from injury.
On Tuesday, Fritz dominated in the opening two sets against Khachanov before tape tied to his right foot and began to block his movement. He fell into a 5-0 deficit and suddenly seemed lean. He shrugged in the direction of the player box, and his confidence seemed to plummet. Calling it “uncomfortable,” he took a medical timeout after a biased third set, received treatment and fresh taping on his feet. Khachanov’s level remained high in the 4 sets, but Fritz was driven by his powerful serves – he had four aces in tiebreaks alone – and he decided he could not find himself in the decision set.
“I’m back in the fourth set and I’m really happy with how I got it,” Fritz said later. “I don’t think the momentum was going to be fifth.”
Fritz is the first American since John Isner in 2018 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals and third since Roddick’s final appearance 16 years ago.
Fritz will then do the enormous job of taking on Alcaraz on Friday. With his memorable victory at the French Open and his latest title at Glass at the Queens Club last month, Alcaraz won beloved British star Cameron Nolly 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday. Alcaraz is outspoken from the head 2-0, but they have never met in the grass, and Alcaraz shows a moment of vulnerability throughout the tournament.
Alcaraz would definitely prefer to take part in the match, but Fritz believes he can beat him.
“I think grass is a very equalizer,” Fritz told reporters Tuesday. “It can be an equalizer, so I trust how I play. I really know how I played the first two sets today. There’s not much I can do on the other side.”
Fritz, who took part in the match on Tuesday, had the fourth-best odds to win the Wimbledon title following ESPN BET. Those odds will not change as Alkaraz is his semi-final opponent, and first-place sinner and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic remain on the other side of the draw, playing their respective quarter-final matches on Wednesday. But he’s still only two matches from the biggest title of his life.
Fritz knows what history he can make. But he was there before. After the quarter-final match, he said he doesn’t think he’ll experience anything more pressure during the US Open last year than his friends or semi-finals with American Francistier Faye.
But that victory offered him self-confidence when he played in the final in New York about ten months ago.
And now he knows he can do that.
“It’s just that I’m there and gives me a lot of confidence in the moments and circumstances that I can do it again.”
