Alexander Zverev reached his first Wimbledon semifinal on Wednesday, defeating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on No. 1 Court to erase the last blank space on an elite résumé.
The result made Zverev the fifth active man to reach the semifinals at all four Grand Slams, joining Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Marin Cilic. Wimbledon had been the outlier. Before this fortnight the German had never advanced beyond the fourth round in nine appearances at the All England Club, and he lost in the first round a year ago.
The breakthrough. Zverev, the second seed, needed one hour and 59 minutes, breaking Fritz late in the opening set and pulling clear as the match wore on. He said afterward that changes to his game had paid off on the surface that long troubled him: “I changed my game a bit for grass and it’s working quite well,” Zverev said.
Fritz, the No. 6 seed and a semifinalist here a year ago, took a medical timeout in the second set for treatment on his right knee, and said the problem had surfaced early in the match. He declined to lean on it, noting Zverev’s serving would have been difficult to counter regardless.
Ending the streak. The win doubled as a personal reckoning. Zverev had lost seven straight meetings with Fritz, a run stretching back to the Rome quarterfinals in May 2024 and including a defeat in the Halle semifinals two weeks ago. This time he dictated from the back of the court and tightened his serving set by set.
The semifinal extends a commanding run at the majors for Zverev, who won his first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros last month and improved to 17-1 in major matches this year. Reaching the last four in London gives him a semifinal or better at three consecutive Slams.
What’s next. Zverev will meet Arthur Fery, the British wild card ranked No. 114, in Friday’s semifinal, the pair’s first main-tour meeting. Should Zverev win, he would return to No. 2 in the ATP rankings on Monday, passing Alcaraz for the first time since May of last year; he is seeded second at Wimbledon in Alcaraz’s injury absence despite ranking third.
Fritz’s defeat also extended a longer American wait. No United States man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 US Open, the longest such drought in the country’s history.
