“Dream Come True” for Zverev, Who Snaps Losing Streak vs Fritz to Reach First Wimbledon Semifinal

Alexander Zverev hated the matchup against Taylor Fritz for two years. Now that he’s a Grand Slam champion, with wind in his sails and confidence in his strokes, he doesn’t seem to mind it. 

The German snapped a seven-match losing streak to his American rival with a pitch-perfect 6-4 6-4 6-2 to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal. 

“I’m extremely happy to be in the semifinals, especially against Taylor, who I haven’t beaten in more than two years,” the German, who stretched his career-best Grand Slam winning streak to 12 with the win.”

Zverev never surrendered a break point as he put up a 77 percent first-serve percentage and won 72 percent of his second serves against Fritz, who was broken four times and never really got a foothold into the match. 

From the moment the American squandered three break points in his first return game, he never had an advantage in the match. 

Fritz, who earlier in the week claimed to be pain-free, appeared to be bothered by tendinitis in his right knee. He took a medical timeout early in the second set, but played on. 

“I just knew I had to focus from the first moment onwards,” Zverev said. “First game on my serve, I had three break points against me, and I knew that it was going to be a difficult match, no matter what. Of course, it’s in the back of your mind that you haven’t beaten an opponent for more than two years – today, I knew that I had to play a flawless match. I have to play an almost perfect match to have a chance, and I feel like I did that today.” 

Zverev will face British wild card Arthur Fery in the semifinals. The world No.114 continued his “Fery Tale” run by defeating Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court, 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0. 

After winning the title at Roland-Garros Zverev said he looked forward to moving forward in his career without the weight of being the best player to have never won a major title on his shoulders. 

He was asked on Wednesday if it made all the difference to him when it comes to unlocking his potential on Wimbledon’s grass. Prior to this year he had never been beyond the round of 16 at SW19. 

“I guess, I don’t know,” he said. “I’m just happy to still be in the tournament. Last year, I was already practicing on a hard court during this time around. I’m just happy to be still in the tournament to have a chance to hopefully play two more matches here, and this is one of the biggest honors in tennis, to play on this court, to play on Centre courts. 

“There is nothing like it in this sport, so it’s just a huge honor for me. It’s a dream come true to finally play well at Wimbledon – I waited quite a long time for it.”