When it finally came time to play, Paul was relaxed. He defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets — and then another wait began. No. 12 seed Paul, 27, had done his part in clinching a spot in the quarterfinals. He had to wait another day for his good buddy Taylor Fritz, 26, to do his part in ending one long dry spell for the Americans.
No. 13 Fritz defeated No. 4 Alexander Zverev, 4-6, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, on Monday to ensure that multiple American men will play in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time since 2000, when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jan-Michael Gambill made the final eight. Fritz and Paul join a surprise women’s quarterfinalist, No. 19 seed Emma Navarro, as the last Americans standing.
Fritz notched one of the more impressive Grand Slam wins of his career by coming back from two sets down against Zverev, who made the French Open final last month. The big-hitting German hadn’t lost a set in Wimbledon’s first three rounds and was serving so well that he hadn’t dropped a service game. He hadn’t so much as faced a break point since the first round.
Zverev breezed through the first two sets. But Fritz, who won a warmup tournament on grass ahead of Wimbledon, felt he was playing too well to give in. He backed up against Zverev’s serve and gave himself more time to place returns exactly where he wanted.
Fritz finally broke Zverev in the third set — just once. But in a match that came down to big serves and short points, that was enough of a foothold.
“Once we got into the rallies,” Fritz said, “I felt like I was playing about as good as I could play.”
Zverev didn’t feel the same about his performance. The 27-year-old took a nasty spill in his third-round match against Cameron Norrie, suffering what he called a bone bruise and a torn capsule in his left knee. He wore a protective sleeve throughout Monday’s match.
“I was on one leg today,” Zverev said. “He is playing great. … But also I do know that the match was not high level. I mean, it wasn’t a particularly great tennis match. … There wasn’t really long rallies, because I couldn’t play long rallies.”
Zverev had another complaint to air at the net after the match, when he informed Fritz that he felt some of the spectators in his box were being disrespectfully loud, especially considering Zverev was having trouble moving.
“Me and Taylor, we grew up together, playing each other since juniors. I think it was fairly obvious that I wasn’t 100 percent today, right?” Zverev said when asked about the exchange. “… His team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physio, also his second coach, they’re extremely respectful. There’s some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe … watching every single match. They were a bit over the top. That’s okay. No issues. No drama.”
Fritz’s win ended a personal dry spell: Monday was his first victory over Zverev in three tries at a Grand Slam. They had met twice before at Wimbledon.
The Californian advanced to face No. 25 seed Lorenzo Musetti, one of two Italians left in the final eight alongside top-seeded Jannik Sinner. Paul, who also won a grass-court tournament ahead of Wimbledon, has a marquee matchup against third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz set for Court No. 1 on Tuesday.
Paul hit 11 aces in his win over Bautista Agut on Sunday and is hoping first-punch tennis aids him as much as it did Fritz on Monday.
“Serve and return are big for me. We both play a pretty aggressive style of tennis,” Paul said of Alcaraz. “He’s been playing pretty well and ultra-aggressive. It’s fun for people to watch. Honestly, it’s fun to play against.”
No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic advanced in the other fourth-round match Monday; he beat No. 15 Holger Rune, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, to reach his 60th Grand Slam quarterfinal. On Wednesday, Djokovic will face No. 9 Alex de Minaur, who beat Arthur Fils, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.