American Taylor Fritz overcame an early two-set deficit to defeat two-time Grand Slam finalist Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in 3 hours, 29 minutes in Wimbledon’s Round of 16, to reach the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam event on Monday in London. No. 4 seeded Zverev of Germany totaled 19 aces, while Fritz hit 15, converting 2 of 4 break point opportunities, compared to 1 of 2 for Zverev.
The 13th-seeded Fritz, who lost to 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals at the All England Club two years ago, equaled his career-best showing at a major tournament. The 26-year-old from California said (via ESPN): “It was amazing to do that on Centre Court [at] Wimbledon, two sets down, in front of this crowd. The thing was, I felt like I was still playing really well for being down two sets. I was just thinking it would suck to be playing this well and just lose in three straight, so let’s take the third. … I had that belief.”
Fritz will seek to clinch a spot in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time of his career when he meets No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in the quarterfinals Wednesday at the All dddEngland Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Musetti defeated No. 58 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in his Round of 16 match.
Quarterfinal coverage will start at 8 a.m. EDT Tuesday on ESPN.
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