Lorenzo Musetti of Italy celebrates after defeating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in their fourth round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
LONDON (AP) – Taylor Fritz turned things around after dropping the opening two sets to defeat two-time Grand Slam finalist Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Monday and reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
The 13th-seeded Fritz, a 26-year-old from California, equaled his career-best showing at a major tournament.
“It was amazing to do that,” he said.
The match, played with the retractable Centre Court roof shut, was the 35th to go five sets at the All England Club this year, tying the record for the most at any Slam event in the Open era, which began in 1968.
And Fritz’s comeback is the 11th from a two-set deficit in this edition of Wimbledon, more than in any other year.
The fourth-seeded Zverev was the runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open last month. He also lost in the final of the 2020 U.S. Open against Dominic Thiem.
The German entered Monday having won all nine sets he had played at Wimbledon this year and held in all 41 of his service games. But Fritz broke him one time each in the third and fifth sets.
Zverev played with a gray sleeve on left knee, which he hurt during a fall in his previous match.
When it ended, Fritz threw his head back and let out a yell, before meeting Zverev at the net for an extended chat.
Fritz joined countryman Tommy Paul in the final eight, giving the United States two men that deep in the tournament for the first time since 2000.
Fritz’s quarterfinal opponent will be No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti. No. 9 Alex de Minaur now plays seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic or No. 15 Holger Rune, who were scheduled to meet in Monday night’s last match on Centre Court.
Winners in women’s fourth-round matches included 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, No. 21 seed Elina Svitolina – who wore a black ribbon on her shirt to mourn victims of Russian missile attacks on her home country, Ukraine – and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Rybakina faces Svitolina in the quarterfinals, and Ostapenko’s next opponent will be No. 11 Danielle Collins or 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
