For the first time in his career, Taylor Fritz reached the Wimbledon semi-finals. Fritz, a male player ranked fifth, achieved the feat by winning Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 7-6, an impressive 6-3, 6-4, and 7-6.
Fritz will face back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz, who will defend in Friday’s semi-finals. Alcaraz defeated Cameron Nolly on Tuesday.
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He had some trouble late in the match, but that was a great performance for the early days of the US. Despite some struggles in the third set and early in the fourth, he recovered to pick up victory.
Fritz has registered 16 aces. Fritz helped build his early lead as he had a success rate of about 90% of his first serves throughout the first two sets.
Fritz played pretty quickly, but Khachanov also had outstanding moments. He was hanging there with Fritz in the first two sets despite losing both. Kachanov then ran and jumped for a 5-0 lead in the third set, marking for the first time in a match where he seemed to gain the advantage.
Fritz managed to shoot one game on set, but lost 6-1.
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Kachanov carried that momentum into four sets, where he scored an early 2-0 lead. Fritz showed frustration early on the set, animated conversations with the coach between points.
If Fritz didn’t serve again, he would be back on track. A quick victory made it 2-1 in the fourth set. It seemed like Fritz’s turning point, connecting things with a break in the next game. After trading the next two games, Fritz managed to take the lead after moving on his path to victory again. Fritz narrowed the 4-3 lead as the fourth set reduced.
After Khachanov fought to become 4-4, Fritz again moved forward with his dominant service. This made Kachanov the situation he needed to help him live. He did exactly that and pressured Fritz to serve the path to lead again.
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Fritz completed it again and took a 6-5 lead on the set. Match was his grasp, and Fritz couldn’t do it, leading to a tiebreaker.
Finally, Fritz dominated the serve attempt to force a match point. With Khachanov serving, Fritz finally finished the match with a kill shot well placed on a ball hanging in the air.
This victory shows that Fritz, the farthest in Wimbledon, has made its way. Before Tuesday’s victory, Fritz had once again made his appearance in the quarterfinals at the event. He reached that stage in 2022, but was defeated by Rafael Nadal.
I hope that Fritz’s championship will be much tougher from here as we will be able to meet second Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. Alcaraz will face Cam Nolly on Tuesday. The victory will push Alcaraz into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the third year in a row. Alcaraz has won Wimbledon for the past two years.
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Not only is Fritz looking for his first victory at Wimbledon, he wants to be the first American to win the event in 25 years. The last American to accomplish that feat was Pete Sampras, who defeated Patrick Rafter in the 2000 final.
22-year-old Carlos Alcaraz has won 19 straight games at Wimbledon and is the defending back-to-back champion. (Photo by Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
(Glinkerk via Getty Images)
Alcaraz won the All-England Club in his 19th match
Carlos Alcaraz beat British Cameron Norry 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, and went on to the Wimbledon semi-finals for the third year in a row.
Alcaraz, the back-to-back champion of defense and the winner of a five-time Grand Slam tournament, will face Fritz on Friday. The No. 2 seed is currently 19 consecutive wins at Wimbledon, 23 consecutive wins. His final defeat occurred on April 20th in the final of Holga Rune’s Open Barcelona.
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Tuesday also marked Alcaraz’s 76th victory in an 88 career grand slam match.
