Taylor Fritz Reaches Wimbledon Semifinals to Face Defending Champion Carlos Alcaraz

Taylor Fritz got out to a great start, and managed to eventually put away Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

For the first time in his career, Taylor Fritz has made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. Fritz — the No. 5 ranked men's player — accomplished the feat with an impressive 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 win over Karen Khachanov.

Fritz will take on Carlos Alcaraz, who is the defending back-to-back champion, in Friday's semifinals. Alcaraz defeated Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.

It was an excellent performance for the American early, though he ran into some trouble later in the match. Despite some struggles in the third set and early in the fourth, he recovered to pick up the victory.

Fritz registered 16 aces. He had a success rate on roughly 90 percent of his first serves through the first two sets, which helped Fritz build his early lead.

Though Fritz played well early, Khachanov also had moments of excellence. He hung in there with Fritz during the first two sets, despite losing both. Khachanov then made a run, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the third set, marking the first time in the match that he looked to have the upper hand.

Fritz managed to take one game in the set, but wound up losing 6-1.

Khachanov carried that momentum over to the fourth set, where he took an early 2-0 lead. Fritz showed frustration early in the set, talking animatedly with his coach in between points.

Once Fritz got to serve again, he got back on track. A quick win made it 2-1 in the fourth set. That seemed to be the turning point for Fritz, who tied things up with a break in the next game. After trading the next two games, Fritz managed to take a lead after once again serving his way to victory. With the fourth set winding down, Fritz had a narrow 4-3 lead.

After Khachanov battled back to make it 4-4, Fritz once again used his dominant serve to get ahead. That put Khachanov in a situation where he needed to serve to stay alive. He did just that, putting pressure on Fritz to once again serve his way to a lead.

Fritz got it done again, taking a 6-5 lead in the set. With the match in his grasp, Fritz couldn't get it done, leading to a tiebreak.

For the final time, Fritz dominated his serve attempts to force match point. With Khachanov serving, Fritz finally ended the match with a well-placed kill shot on a ball that hung up in the air far too long.

The win marks the farthest Fritz has advanced at Wimbledon. Prior to Tuesday's victory, Fritz had only appeared in the quarterfinals one other time at the event. He reached that stage in 2022, but lost to Rafael Nadal.

Fritz's championship hopes will get much tougher from here, as he could meet No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. Alcaraz will take on Cam Norrie on Tuesday. A win would push Alcaraz into the semifinals at Wimbledon for the third straight year. Alcaraz has won Wimbledon each of the past two years.

Fritz is not only looking for his first win at Wimbledon, he's also looking to become the first American man to win the event in 25 years. The last American to accomplish that feat was Pete Sampras, who defeated Patrick Rafter in the finals in 2000. It was the seventh — and last — time Sampras won the event.

Alcaraz beat Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to move on to the Wimbledon semifinals for the third straight year.

Alcaraz, the defending back-to-back champion and a five-time Grand Slam tournament winner, will face Fritz on Friday. The No. 2 seed has now won 19 straight matches at Wimbledon and 23 in a row overall. His last loss came on April 20 in the final of the Barcelona Open to Holger Rune.

Tuesday also marked Alcaraz's 76th win in 88 career Grand Slam matches.