Taylor Fritz’s Wimbledon journey continues to roll on and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz awaits him in the semi-final.
Fritz, who overcame ‘scary’ Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo in the early rounds, beat Karen Khachanov in straight sets to advance to the blockbuster match against Alcaraz.
The American has never beaten the world number two, losing at the Miami Open in 2023 and the Laver Cup in 2024. Fritz went as far as to say he ‘couldn’t do anything’ against Alcaraz during their Laver Cup clash.
Speaking on the Tennis Channel ahead of his clash against Alcaraz, Fritz discussed how Alcaraz inspires him.
Taylor Fritz explains how Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner inspire him
Fritz has reached his second Grand Slam semi-final after losing in the US Open final to Jannik Sinner in 2024.
Despite reaching the pinnacle of the ATP Tour, Fritz has struggled to make inroads against the sport’s top two players, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Fritz has only won one match in seven when playing Alcaraz or Sinner. His lone win came against Sinner back in 2021 at Indian Wells, the American winning 6-4 6-3.
On The Tennis Channel, Fritz said: “Just the level, I think.
“At the end of the day I’m a competitor so when I play those guys and they beat me and you know, beat me bad as well, it makes me want to become better.
“I want to get to that level and be able to compete with them. So I think, I mean that’s just it, just the level of tennis they’re playing and then being such great players makes me want to, you know, improve.”
Fritz was asked to expand on his points. He said: “I’m not sure, they’re just really good. The only way I know to get better is to, especially when I play them, I think a lot of the areas where you can improve on, it gets exposed against the top players more and I just get back to work.
“That’s kind of the only way I know to get better.”
Taylor Fritz breaks new ground at Wimbledon
Following his semi-final appearances in Stuttgart, Eastbourne and Wimbledon, Fritz broke an ATP Tour record.
Fritz is now the first American to reach three ATP-level semi-finals on grass in a calendar year since the inaugural ATP Tour season in 1990.
Fritz could become the first American man to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles final since 2009, when Andy Roddick lost a marathon five-set match to Roger Federer.
He is also looking to break a 25-year unwanted streak for American male tennis players. No American player has won the men’s singles title since Pete Sampras in 2000.
