Wimbledon 2024: Alexander Zverev says members of Taylor Fritz’s box went ‘over the top’ as American mounted comeback – Eurosport

Alexander Zverev believes some members of Taylor Fritz’s box went “over the top” as they celebrated the American’s march towards a momentous comeback victory in the fourth round at Wimbledon.

The duo had a long conversation at the net after the match, but Fritz was quick to downplay the incident in his post-match press conference.

“I think he was annoyed at some people in my box just being loud, cheering for me,” the American said.

“Honestly, I can’t hear. I don’t know. Like, no big deal. He said it’s nothing towards me or anything like that.”

Fritz added: “I don’t really hear my box when I’m playing like that.

“I didn’t hear anyone being, like, extremely loud.

“He’s totally allowed to be annoyed if they were being annoying.

“That’s one of the things I asked him at the net, Who was it? Yeah, I mean, again, it’s not a big thing. It’s all good.”

Zverev said he had “no issues” with Fritz as he described what he had seen.

“His team is extremely respectful,” said Zverev. “I think his coach, his physio, also his second coach, they’re extremely respectful.

“I think there are some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe from particularly watching every single match.

“They were a bit over the top.

“That’s okay. No issues. No drama. He fought back from two sets to love, so they’re obviously all excited, very pumped up, yeah.

“But no issues with Taylor. I think Taylor is a great guy. I have absolutely no issues with him.”

The German believes an issue with his knee was one of the reasons for the defeat.

“I think it was fairly obvious that I wasn’t 100 per cent today, right?

“I wasn’t moving really the entire match. I wasn’t running for drop shots. If I was running for a drop shot, I was limping there more than running.

“Towards the end, I mean, I thought from the fourth and fifth set, I was really struggling to serve, as well, to jump off on my leg, to create some power.

Opening up on the complaint and how he incurred it, Zverev added: “I have a bone edema in my knee, then I have also a tear in my capsule in my knee. That came from the fall. That came from the match against [Cameron] Norrie.

“It is nothing that I need surgery on. It is nothing that doesn’t heal by itself. It just needs time.

“I do know that also I had a great opportunity here at Wimbledon. I didn’t want to pull out. Yesterday I couldn’t practice at all. Yesterday I couldn’t walk even.

“Today I felt much, much better. That’s why I did try to play. I also knew I did have a great opportunity this year at Wimbledon. It’s the best I’ve probably ever felt on the Wimbledon courts, the best maybe I’ve ever played here. I definitely didn’t want to go out without fighting.

“At the same time I was limited. It is how it is. I’m still proud of what I could do today. I think I got the maximum out of it, of what I could do. That’s okay, as well. I have to move on.”