American Taylor Fritz has a chance to end the drought of US men in Grand Slam tennis as he is one game away from advancing to the men's final in Wimbledon 2025. It will, however, not be easy for the world No. 5 as standing in his way is two-time defending champion and world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
There is no denying that Fritz will be the underdog here as Alcaraz comes into this tournament as the overwhelming favourite, especially that he won the Queen's Club Championships a few weeks ago. He is also aiming for his third consecutive Wimbledon title.
Taylor Fritz's Path to the Semi-final
The American was made to work every step of the way for his semi-final ticket, contending with the fastest serve in Wimbledon history dished by Frenchman Giovannie Mpetshi in the first round that he overcame in five sets.
The second round was another five-set thriller against Gabriel Diallo of Canada, while Fritz was pushed to four sets by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, also of Spain in the third round.
The fourth round gave Fritz room to breathe as his opponent, Jordan Thompson of Australia, was forced to retire due to an injury. The quarter-final saw Fritz eventually getting past Russia's Karen Khachanov in four sets, clinching his first ever Wimbledon semi-final.
How Carlos Alcaraz Reached the Semi-final
In contrast, after a first-round scare in which the Spaniard was pushed to five sets by Fabio Fognini of Italy, Alcaraz had a relatively easy time dismissing Oliver Tarvet in the second round and Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round.
The world No. 2 then got past 14th seed Andrey Rublev and advanced into the final four by breezing past Cameron Norrie.
Uphill Climb For Taylor Fritz
Fritz fights back 👊
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2025
The No.5 seed breaks Carlos Alcaraz's serve to take the second set, 7-5#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Y9tQdO8Tt7
Not only is Alcaraz better than everyone on grass that he is being compared to Roger Federer, the Wimbledon crowd will also have the Spaniard's back as he is the favourite to hoist up the trophy for the third straight year.
History is also not favouring Fritz as he lost both times that he had faced Alcaraz on the senior tour. The American did not win a set in those previous matches, meaning as big a hitter as he is, Fritz would need to draw on all his weapons if he is to advance to the Wimbledon final and restore glory to American men's tennis.
US Men Grand Slam Drought
Grand Slams were once dominated by Americans from Jimmy Connors to John McEnroe, Stan Smith, Arthur Ashe and the best of them all in terms of Wimbledon, Pete Sampras, who dominated in the All England Lawn Tennis Club all throughout the 90s, which he capped with his last Wimbledon title in 2000.
Now, 25 years later, an American man has yet to win again at Wimbledon. And, that is the achievement that awaits Fritz should he get past Alcaraz and whoever wins between world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, the only one remaining of the big 3 with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hanging up their rackets.
