In what will go down as the best Wimbledon for American men since the Andy Roddick era, only one is left standing in the quarterfinals.
And it’s the one you would expect: Taylor Fritz.
This may be Fritz’s first trip to the last eight at the All-England Club, but it certainly comes as no surprise–especially considering the field is without world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, and other banned Russian and Belarusian players. On his own account, Fritz has been one of the best players on tour this season–with his biggest-ever title at the Indian Wells Masters and his second triumph on the grass courts of Eastbourne.
The 24-year-old’s Eastbourne success armed him with a ton of confidence heading into the All-England Club and he most definitely has not looked back. Fritz punched his ticket to the quarters by erasing Lorenzo Musetti, Alastair Gray, Alex Molcan, and Jason Kubler all in straight sets. The 11th seed is the only player in the field who has not dropped a set; in fact, everyone else has lost at least two.
“It’s amazing,” Fritz said of his first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance after cruising past Kubler 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 on Monday. “(The) first time obviously feels great…. All the hard work I’ve been putting in, all the things I’ve been doing, it’s paying off. It feels amazing; doesn’t even seem real. I’m in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“Things like this I’ve kind of worked for my whole life. It’s great to kind of soak it in and feel like everything’s kind of…the work’s paying off and I’m moving in the right direction.”
Now the question is if Fritz can move all the way into the semis.
Speaking of that Indian Wells title a few months ago, the world No. 14 took down Rafael Nadal in the final. Now it will be none other than Nadal on the other side of the net in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The reigning Australian Open and French Open champion also advanced in straight sets on Monday, defeating Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(6).
“I think it makes the occasion bigger,” Fritz said of facing Nadal. “I’ve been this whole tournament playing people that I guess on paper I guess I’m supposed to beat. That’s honestly always tough because it’s tougher to play those matches than to play the ones where maybe you’re not the favorite. You can be a lot more free. I know I’m going to have to bring a certain level. Just knowing that I will have to play a certain level, I know that I will play better.
“It’s going to be a [much] different match obviously. Indian Wells was kind of crazy with both of us being extremely beaten up before the final. This time I think [we are] getting healthier versions of both of us.
“It will be a really fun match. I want to play him. I think that he probably really wants to beat me after Indian Wells. It will be really exciting.”
nice one, Fritz
Ricky your prediction?
I think that Ricky picked Fritz for the win in the quarterfinal against Rafa after the draw came out. I don’t know if he has changed his mind since then…
I know. I want to see what his prediction is now with the likely score.
Rafas match is a good 28 hrs away n I’m already nervous .it’s going to be a bad 5 days ahead filled with nerves..
Neither of the 3 matches if rafa wins each are going to be easy starting with the qf
‘With both of us being extremely beaten up before the final..’
What injury did he have compared with a broken rib?!
He does not come across well…
He was beaten by Jack Draper at Queens.
I just looked up his results for the last year. They are not very impressive. The win at IW involved a walk over in the semis with Rublev and Rafa having a broken rib.
Otherwise he has very few big wins.
I haven’t actually seen him play at wimby/ Queens or anywhere on grass I should add…
He had ankle issue but he said doctor worked magic n he was fine
Before the IW win I always thought Fritz was just an up and coming player, never great! He beats Rafa once in a masters tournament and all of a sudden he’s Rafa”s kryptonite!!!!!!! What am I missing here?!!!
Have to agree w/most of the comments above….Rafa IS Rafa….in 4.
The thing that concerns me is the tape on rafas abdomen and his mental walkabouts in third set.
I agree about suddenly Fritz being this huge problem for Rafa. Where the heck does that come from? Rafa is Rafa. Enough said.
Rafa would not talk about the fake on his abdomen in his presser.
Rafa is not losing this match. Agreed Fritz ain’t going to be a big problem. Rafa might drop a set but he’ll get to the semis. He is serving very well, thinking very clearly and with his momentum he’ll be very confident in key moments. I am really liking his backhand this year in general and it’s adapting so well to the grass too. This is the most well-rounded version of Rafa we’ve ever seen on grass and he is here to get that trophy.
Vr .his bh is good but fh is not yet in full gear..barely seen him hit the fhdtl shot …he will need to summon it
VR,
On ESPN the commies said that Arafat has changed his grip on the forehand. He is nit using the buggy whip motion. They say it has made the forehand much more effective on grass and Rafa is a different player now. Your thoughts?
Also, what do you make of these third set lapses? That can hurt him against better players. The serve has finally gotten so much better. It seemed to go south after the rib injury.
Of course I meant to say Rafa*
Were they referring to his follow through? I haven’t seen any change to be honest and why would Rafa change his follow-up through. He uses a mix of the buggy whip and across the body finish and is doing the same this fortnight. His forehand DTL’s are mostly buggy whips and he knows how to flatten it using either follow through. So with Rafa, when the ball is short and he is stepping up, you’ll usually see him finish across the body but when standing his ground or catching the ball a bit late he prefers the buggy whip.
I agree we haven’t seen his forehand at its best yet but it will come. He is playing with so much confidence that he can summon all the shots in the book when needed.
He is NOT losing to Fritz.
VR,
Darren Cahill went on and on about the way Rafa is now hitting his forehand. He is the one who talked about the buggy whip motion. He says he is flattening it out to much better effect on grass. He says Rafa talked with his coaches when there was a rain delay in a previous match. I don’t know where they get this.
Maybe you should address your last sentence to Ricky. I don’t know how you pick a guy who us in his first slam quarterfinal and who played very low ranked players to get there.
I won’t be surprised if Rafa is flattening his forehand more or at least trying to. It is grass and he has made such adaptions in the past too. I haven’t seen any changes in his follow through and trust me, his instincts will take over and he will still use a mix of buggy whip and across the body follow through in this matches. I’ll search if I can find what Cahill was saying and maybe comment better then.
Regarding Ricky’s prediction, haha, it’s just a prediction. Maybe he thinks Rafa is still a bit vulnerable up until the qtrs and Fritz has a big enough game to bother him and comes in with momentum having won a title.
It won’t be shocking if Fritz wins but would be very surprising to say the least.
Tape*
Why is this in Match Recap?
https://twitter.com/Stroppa_Del/status/1544057679882194946?s=20&t=stsl3H77_woUSSS7N21rkA
🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂
Rafa, very funny, I needed that laugh!
I mean seriously, what the hell r they asking Rafa? Is it that Rafa should fear anyone that beats him
Nowadays? Well it’s a good thing they’re talking up Fritz! Put the pressure on him while Rafa will just let his racket do the talking’
Ricky did the Match Recap for Nadal vs Fritz before the match was played, assuming Fritz would win. Lol
I was wondering when we would get the actual match recap! Evidently it’s not going to happen…