London – Taylor Fritz recovered from a mid-term break, during which time he was treated for foot problems by the coach and arrived at the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, defeating Karen Khachanov with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 (4).
No. 5 seed Fritz is the runner-up at the U.S. Open, finishing second in the U.S. Open and 1-4 in Wimbledon’s few quarterfinals. Now he will meet defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who defends Spain twice, and also meets British seedless Cam Norrie in the final.
Fritz won a huge lead against No. 17 Khachanov, with 40 of his 47 service points in the first two sets, never facing a break in that range.
But then two main semifinalist Khachanov won eight of nine games. It was during that time that Fritz had a medical timeout, removing his right shoes and socks so the coach could readjust his feet.
Khachanov broke through the fourth set and was 18 mph slower than his fastest in Fritz’s top speed of 117 mph. He looked up at the guest’s box and knocked the racket on his thigh, perhaps indicating that he was dealing with some fatigue.
However, from falling 2-0 in the fourth game, Fritz began to recover his strength and touch, with the victory being only three points, while 5-4 and 6-5. However, Khachanov scored a four-point final against Fritz.
Fritz finished with 16 A and ended up reaching a top speed of 138 mph.
Khachanov never surpassed Wimbledon’s quarterfinals, falling to 0-11 in the Grand Slam, against his top five opponents.
