Wimbledon: Flawless Alexander Zverev cracks Fritz’s code to reach first semi-final
Alexander Zverev has finally found the answer to one of the biggest riddles of his career. After seven straight defeats to Taylor Fritz, the second-seeded German produced one of his cleanest performances in recent memory to dismantle the American 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday 8 July to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final.
Zverev, fresh from his French Open triumph, continued his quest for back-to-back Grand Slam titles by ending a losing streak against Fritz that stretched over two years, including defeat to the American at the All England Club in 2024.
The victory also made Zverev only the fifth German in the Open Era to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon, joining Boris Becker, Michael Stich, Rainer Schuettler and Tommy Haas.
“It sounds great. I hope to play two more matches here, so we’ll see how it goes, but for now I’m extremely happy to be in the semi-finals, especially after beating Taylor, who I haven’t won against in more than two years,” Zverev said after the match.
“He beat me two years in a row. I played a fantastic match.
ZVEREV STEAMROLS FRITZ
The competition never reached the drama many expected. Zverev broke early in the opening set and despite Fritz threatening to fight back in the 10th game, he held his nerve to close out for 6-4. The German roared with relief after surviving a late push, knowing how much recent history had favored his opponent.
The second set moved further in Zverev’s favor after Fritz called a medical time-out early in the set on his right knee. As the American continued, he looked to match Zverev’s consistency from the baseline as the German grabbed another vital break before moving comfortably two sets ahead.
Fritz’s resistance faded completely by the third.
Zverev produced one of the strikes of the afternoon with a blistering backhand winner to secure a double break at 4-1 before serving out the match with minimal fanfare. The victory marked his 12th Grand Slam semi-final overall, but notably his first at Wimbledon.
“I knew I had to play an almost perfect match to have a chance and I feel I did that today,” Zverev said.
“The first match on my serve I had three break points against me and I knew it was going to be tough. It’s always in the back of your mind when you haven’t beaten someone in over two years.”
ZVEREV vs FERY AND SEMIS
Zverev will now face Britain’s Arthur Fery, whose fairytale run continued earlier in the day with a straight sets win over Flavio Cobolli.
The German was quick to acknowledge the challenge ahead and joked that the home crowd would have no reason to support anyone else.
“You all can be for Fery,” laughed Zverev. “That’s totally fine. I understand.”
“For him it’s a ‘Fery-tale’ story. See what I did there? Very clever. But I have to believe in myself and believe in my tennis.
“Hopefully I’ll put in a good performance and then we’ll see what happens.”
Zverev broke through for the first time in his career at Wimbledon. However, to lift the trophy, he will have to spoil the biggest British tennis story of the last fortnight.
– The end
Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
08 Jul 2026 23:36 IST