London (AFP) – Taylor Fritz eased into the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the fourth time in five years on Monday with a dominant straight-sets win over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik in the fourth round. The American sixth seed, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in the semis last year, took control of the match in a first-set tie-break en route to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4 success.
Fritz will face either French Open champion Alexander Zverev or Czech 13th seed Jiri Lehecka for a place in the last four. “When you have two guys who are serving big, with quick points, it’s going to come down to these key moments in the match and I thought I dealt with it really well,” said Fritz, after needing only an hour and 39 minutes to see off Bublik on Court One.
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He hammered 23 aces and 47 winners past Bublik, who ended the match visibly deflated as he struggled to get any foothold during Fritz’s service games. Fritz holds a 10-5 winning record against second seed Zverev and has won four of six meetings with Lehecka.
The 28-year-old is still bidding for a maiden Grand Slam title, having come closest when he lost the 2024 US Open final to Jannik Sinner. He has threatened a title challenge at Wimbledon in recent years, losing a five-set epic in the 2022 quarter-finals against an injured Rafael Nadal, who then withdrew from the tournament.
© 2024 AFP
