Fritz marches into first major semifinal after beating Zverev at U.S. Open

On his fifth try, Taylor Fritz finally got over the major quarterfinal hump.

Fritz advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in his career by beating Alexander Zverev 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) at the U.S. Open on Tuesday afternoon. The American was previously 0-4 lifetime in the last eight at slams.

Fritz is the fourth active American man to reach a Grang Slam semi. He joins Ben Shelton (2023 U.S. Open), Tommy Paul (2023 Australian Open), and
Frances Tiafoe (2022 U.S. Open). With one more victory on Thursday, the 26-year-old would be the first American man to play in a major final since 2009 (Andy Roddick at Wimbledon).

“I came out really just feeling good, ready to play,” Fritz assessed. “I think in a lot of my previous quarterfinals, I came out a little bit nervous. But today I just felt really good from the start, ready to go…. (I’m) super pumped to make it into my first semi.”

While the world No. 12 lives to see another day at Flushing Meadows, it is another tough Grand Slam pill to swallow for Zverev. The German is still searching for his first major title following a pair of five-set losses (2020 U.S. Open from two sets up against Dominic Thiem and 2024 French Open from two sets to one up against Carlos Alcaraz). Zverev did not get as close this time, but he had a huge opportunity as the highest-ranked player left in the bottom half of the bracket and with Alcaraz having already exited the top half.

Alas, the world No. 4 was denied by Fritz–just as he was earlier this summer at the All-England Club, that time in a five-set match during fourth-round competition. Zverev was two sets up on Fritz at Wimbledon.

“(My) serving and actually returning was actually okay,” Zverev said during his Tuesday afternoon press conference. “From the baseline I played absolutely terrible. My backhand, I don’t remember since being on tour hitting my backhand this badly. I just don’t. I mean, I was missing shots which were in the middle of the court with no pace (in the) bottom of the net. Terrible.

“And don’t say that Taylor didn’t deserve to win. No, he absolutely deserved to win today. I’m not taking anything away from him. He played quite a good match. I did nothing to deserve to win.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.