World number five Taylor Fritz powered his way into a maiden Wimbledon semi-final by winning a colossal Court One clash with Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov.
In a big-hitting battle between the two tallest players to reach the last eight, 6ft 5ins Fritz overcame a third-set wobble, a medical timeout and a rogue line call to triumph 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6 (4) against 6ft 6ins Khachanov.
The American will take on back-to-back champion Carlos Alcaraz for a place in Sunday’s final.
Soaking it all in 🙌#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/lpnqhwgSsy
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025
“I’m feeling great to get through it,” Fritz said in his on-court interview.
“The match was going so well for me for two sets. I’ve never had a match really just flip so quickly, so I’m really happy with how I came back in the fourth set and got it done.
“I felt I couldn’t miss and then all of sudden I’m making a ton of mistakes.
“Momentum was definitely not going to be on my side going into a fifth.”
In another embarrassing episode for tournament organisers, Wimbledon’s faltering electronic line calling system suffered a further malfunction during the quarter-final.
‘Fault’ was incorrectly called by the technology in the opening game of the fourth set when a Fritz backhand landed well inside the baseline.
With the system still tracking the initial serve, chair umpire Louise Azemar-Engzell ordered the point be replayed.
Khachanov had won the previous two meetings between the pair but those victories came three months apart more than five years ago when he was the higher-ranked player.
Fritz has been a US Open finalist since then and demonstrated his prowess on grass with three Eastbourne titles.
A break of serve in game two paved the way for the Californian to cruise to the opening set in 33 minutes.
"I'm really happy with how I've turned my career around."
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025
After losing in the #Wimbledon QF twice, Taylor Fritz is now in his first semi-final at SW19 👏 pic.twitter.com/x5OZbeNrGu
Khachanov barely had sniff on his opponent’s serve and, after surviving four break points earlier in the set, he crucially failed to hold in game nine as Fritz won 12 points in a row to move 2-0 in front.
With the finish line coming into view, Fritz began to waver.
Underdog Khachanov finally broke in game two of set three and then sparked hope of a fightback by promptly repeating the feat en route to emphatically halving his deficit.
Fritz underwent treatment on his right foot ahead of the fourth set, which began in farcical fashion due to the inaccurate line call.
A decider then looked on the cards when Khachanov broke immediately as his rival continued to make mistakes.
Taylor's Triumphant 😤
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025
Fritz wins in four and awaits the winner of Alcaraz and Norrie in the SF 👀#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/W1Sunqie0E
But Fritz regained his poise to hit back in game four before holding his nerve in the tie-break, which he secured with a smash, leading to a roar of delight, mixed with relief.
“Having played the quarter-finals here twice and lost in five (sets) twice, I don’t think I could’ve taken another one,” he said.
The 27-year-old also allayed fears about the severity of his foot issue.
“It’s totally fine, it’s pretty common, a lot of players do this tape job so your foot doesn’t get irritated,” he said.
“I think I ripped it off at some point in the second so I just needed to get it re-done.”
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