That, then, is us. Thanks for your company and comments, we’ll be back again tomorrow. Peace out.
Dimitrov and Tiafoe, then. I guess I fancy Griggzy, because I think he’ll play well enough such that to beat him, Tiafoe has to be somewhere between excellent and superb. If Tiafoe plays close to his best, though, it’ll be a belter of a match and he’ll have a great chance.
I enjoyed that a lot (you’ll all be delighted to learn). I can’t wait to see if that’s the beginning of something for Fritz, while Zverev will probably be wondering how many times he’ll be in the last eight of a slam, out of which Carlos Alcaraz has been knocked.
Zverev might’ve been more aggressive today – he was too far back, and in the fourth and fifth sets, it was Fritz looking to force it. Daniil Medvedev wins matches like that, but Zverev has the tools to dominate.
Fritz tells Nick Kyrgios he’s had lots of looks at quarter-finals the last few years but today he felt different, like it was his time. Asked about how developed his game from being a big server, he says the forehand and backhand were always there but at the top levels the ball always comes back. He’s worked at drops and coming in though, and he’s now a proper player – that’s me not him.
Asked if he’d prefer Dimitrov or Tiafoe next, Tiafoe being a good mate of his, he says the crowd want Tiafoe to guarantee an American in the final so he’ll go with that.
And doesn’t Fritz enjoy it! He’s worked his whole life for this, and knows he’s not finished yet. Zverev didn’t play badly tonight, but he ran into something special.
Another animal of a rally, but Zverev hooks a forehand wide and Fritz has made his first grand slam semi at his home grand slam! He has played the match of his life in the match of his life!
A tight second serve puts Fritz behind in the rally and Zverev nabs back a mini-break … then nets a backhand, and at 6-3, Fritz has three match points!
Naturally, Zverev responds with an ace before stomping round changeover without a drink; does he think Fritz is tiring? A brute of a rally follows, backhand to backhand, then Fritz changes up, injects forehand pace, and two more give him a second mini-beak at 5-2! Two serves, two points from the semis!
Fritz holds, then Zverev gets to a drop … but doesn’t quite make it! The crowd think it’s in, so there’s a delayed reaction; naturally, Zverev follows it with an ace, but he’s still a mini-brea down and Fritz quickly holds twice for 4-1! He’s played a beautiful set … so far.
When thinking about how Zverev’s playing, can’t do so without acknowledging that Fritz – a fantastic athlete and server at his physical peak, improved in all aspects of the game and with plenty of big-match experience – might just be playing the match of his life here. And he plays a brilliant first point, coming in to smite a forehand down the line for 0-15. But then well in rallies, he twice nets backhands and when the inevitable incredible service arrives, all Fritz can do is spoon up a simple putaway. From there, he closes out, and here comes a fourth-set tiebreak! Don’t mind if we do!
Fritz is making it look easier than Zverev; he’s flowing, whereas the German is producing moments. As I type, of course, he plays a beautiful point, return and drive-volley, to win his first on Fritz’s first serve this set; as per the below things can change quickly. But instead Fritz strikes down to obscene aces, and at 5-6 in the fourth, Zverev will shortly serve again to stop in the match.
Reeling under the pressure, Zverev nails an ace down the T, then a service-winner, then plays a trick-shot when a ball comes back to him following a let. Then an ace! So, when Fritz goes well long, it’s a love hold and 5-5 in the fourth.
More hammering from the baseline, but increasingly it’s Fritz, seeking to make his first grand slam semi, in his home event, pushing the pace and looking the likelier. Thing is, tennis can turn on so little, when you get two elite players playing each other and playing well, it’s hard to know what’s going to happen even based on what you’ve only just seen. Fritz holds for 2-1 5-4 and, with the crowd cheering on their boy, Zverev will shortly serve to stay in the match…
Fritz makes 0-15 so Zverev whacks a succession of massive balls until he can’t take any more, then hits a colossal serve. Fritz, though, is sort of on one, coming in off a runaround forehand to unload on a winner to the corner. There follows a further colossal serve, 134ph, then a brute out wide followed by a clean=up backhand. This match is hitting a good level now, and we’re 4-4 in the fourth.
Disgustingly exhausting rally to open the game, how do they do it? Fritz is doing the better in these exchanges – Zverev’s backhand isn’t doing what it usually does – and he lasts longer for 15-0. He’s holding really well here and a booming forehand makes 40-0, then a huge serve gives him 2-1 4-3.
Zverev is getting deeper and deeper on return, telly tells us; does he want longer to see the ball? It’s easy to recline upon one’s posterior and advise him to be more aggressive, but surely he’ll have to at some point? A deft volley – Zverev has got so much better at those – makes him 30-15, but he’s under a bit of pressure when he nets a backhand. I said Zverev has been volleying well, he has, and he has specifically today too … but he doesn’t put one away and Fritz caresses a sensational pass down the line to raise break point! This could the be match right here! Or not! Zverev carts a glorious forehand, inside-out to break the sideline, to restore deuce. An error, though, hands Fritz back advantage … and after a sapping rally, he tosses Zverev a lemon, going for one that wasn’t there when it’s his opponent under pressure to force it. And from there, the game is abruptly ended, an ace down the T sealing the hold for 3-3 in the fourth.
It’s going to get even tenser out there as Fritz nears potential victory … and, as I type, he shanks a forehand for 30-all; naturally, he follows it with an ace. And another ace, of course he does. Fritz leads 7-6 3-6 6-4 3-2.
Fritz hits a fine winner, and when Zverev doubles, he hands over an avoidable deuce; naturally, he follows it with an ace, then a fine approach and drop; we’re 2-2 in the fourth, Fritz by two sets to one.
“I won’t go into pop culture since I was already well past it by the 90s,” writes Richard Hirst, “but better for sport……. no, no,no! Just taking the sport you’re watching now, how about Federer, Nadal, Djokovic (however much one loathes at least two of those) and Murray, maybe the greatest British sportsman of my lifetime. The Olympics are much superior now to then (even a boring old fart thinks there’s something to be said for the mountain biking and rock climbing). I could go on, but you need to watch the tennis, so I’ll leave it there (except for Fulham in the Premier League!).”
Women’s tennis was better in the 90s, I’d say, Test cricket too – though i may or may not have my opinion coloured by my football team being alright. As far as the Olympics goes, I doubt I’ll see anything to surpass the 1988 men’s 100m – perhaps, on reflection, the single biggest sporting occasion of my lifetime.
Fritz has never been past the quarter-final at a slam, having made four quarter-finals, including here last year. Zverev has reached the last four at eight grand slams, and never won the title. Clearly, the mental barrier is in a different place for these two.
Back on court, Zverev holds comfortably, Fritz hits back by holding to love and leads 2-1 in the fourth. Time to hand back to Daniel …
Had Zverev won that third set, I would have fancied him to rattle off the fourth. Can Taylor Fritz close it out in four? That seems a tougher ask. But he’s one set from the semi-finals, and has no trouble holding to 15 in this fourth set.
Deuce, 4-5 down and Zverev is chasing every ball, a nervy-looking Fritz finally putting one out of his reach for another break and set point. And Zverev aces! Fritz then lands a backhand cross-courter right on his opponent’s toes. Break point No 5 … taken as Zverev nets tamely. Taylor Fritz leads 7-6, 3-6, 6-4!
Hmm, what’s this? Zverev makes two quick forehand mistakes in succession, and when Fritz grinds out the next point, he suddenly has three set points in hand. Zverev saves the first with a big first serve, then the second as Fritz goes long. Big, big point here … and Fritz nets a backhand, to the crowd’s chagrin.
Zverev wins a thrilling rally which progresses from baseline slugging to net artistry, the German chopping beyond Fritz’s racket and finding the corner. That got the crowd on their feet – but Fritz quickly shakes it off to see off the game, and edge 5-4 ahead.
Fritz double-faults to start this game but gets his act together, charging on to a loose Zverev drop shot to take charge of the game. Zverev hits back on his service game, and we stay locked at 4-4.
Zverev holds with ease, then sets about breaking back, changing up his angles – and getting the break with a shot down the line that catches Fritz on his heels. We’re back on serve in the third set, one-set all. Get comfy!
Fritz powers to another hold, much more comfortable than the last, and leads this third set 3-0. By the way, if he wins this match, then the only man who can stop an American finalist will be Grigor Dimitrov. The last home finalist in the US Open men’s final was Andy Roddick, who lost to (of course) Roger Federer in 2006.
Zverev was close to taking charge of this match, there, and the missed chance seems to have knocked his concentration. Some cheap unforced errors here allow Fritz a break point, which he takes. The American leads 2-0 in the third set, and the momentum shifts again!
So, one set all, and as Tim Henman points out, it’s now a best-of-three – and if they share the next two, a one-set shootout. Yeah, that’s how it works, Tim. Sorry. We like Tim really, he seems like a nice bloke. Anyway, Fritz has to dig in to hold, but does so, and leads 1-0 in the third set.
Thanks Daniel. A quick mention for this, from Tumaini Carayol, on Jack Draper’s upcoming quarter-final with Alex De Minaur. That’s the second match on Ashe tomorrow, with Beatriz Haddad Maia v Karolina Muchova up first. The evening session – Iga Swiatek v Jessica Pegula, and Jannik Sinner v Daniil Medvedev – looks decent too.
At 30-0, Zverev lifts a forehand wide of the sideline, but Zverev quickly raises two set points … only to burn the first going long on the forehand. But when Fritz goes long with the forehand, the match is level at one set apiece, and Zverev will wonder if he’s drawn the sting – though I think i wrote that during their Wimbledon match, which the American won in five. Otherwise, I’m off for a break – here’s Niall Mcveigh to croon you through the next hour. Fritz 7-6 3-6 Zverev
Netting a forehand at 15-all, Zverev goes to remonstrate with his racket, then stops himself and rests it on the court instead before using it to play a nice approach and low volley which sets up an overhead for 30-all. And when he makes 30-40, Fritz can’t return a deep forehand, so at 5-3 we’ve got our break and Zverev will now serve for the second set! He’s playing more aggressively now, from closer to the baseline and coming in more often; it’s working well for him.
A brilliant backhand pass, on the run, gives Fritz a snifflet at 30-15, then a big forehand persuades Zverev to net – and by the standards of this match, this is a chance. And now he’s facing a second serve too … so Zverev astonishes a second first serve at 133mph and it doesn’t come back. In comms, though, Feli notes that he was pushed to the gamble by Fritz landing his returns, and when he tries it at 40-30, he doubles. For all the difference it makes: two gigantic serves seal the hold, and Zverev trails 6-7 4-3.
