Taylor Fritz entered new and welcomed territory as he reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in his career.
The No. 5 seed Fritz, 27, earned his first ever win over No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) in their quarterfinal meeting.
The victory proved satisfying for Fritz after having come up short in the last few years at the All England Club as he lost a close five-setter to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and another five set encounter with Lorenzo Musetti in 2024 at the same stage.
For Fritz, the victory caps off a career turn around when he lost at Wimbledon a few years ago and dropped out of the top 40.
Fritz, who is on a nine-match win streak on grass stretching all the way back to Eastbourne, stayed in control of things in the first two sets.
After securing the first 6-3, Fritz stayed in touch with Khachanov before making his move later in the second set. Fritz broke Khachanov at love to go up 5-4, and then served out the set to love for 6-4. Before the start of the third set, Fritz took a medical time out to have blisters on his feet treated. From there, Fritz’s level dropped and his opponent took full advantage. With several service breaks, a confident Khachanov raced through the third set 6-1.
Fritz reset in the fourth set and got back on track. On serve at 5-4, Fritz jumped out to 0-30 lead on Khachanov’s serve. But Khachanov responded to level at 5-all.
In the tiebreak, Fritz opened up a 4-1 lead. Yet Khachanov would pull even for 4-all. Fritz, leading at 5-4, took advantage when Khachanov committed a costly forehand error.
Fritz hit 47 winners to 31 unforced errors while Khachanov struck 35 winners to 38 unforced errors.
On match point, Fritz sealed the win with an emphatic smash winner.
Fritz awaits the winner between Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie.