Taylor Fritz turned No. 1 Court into a serving clinic on Monday, beating Alexander Bublik 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.
The American, seeded No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings, struck 22 aces and won 90 percent of his first-serve points in a match that lasted one hour and 41 minutes. The result changes the picture for Fritz, who arrived at the grass-court swing after missing much of the European clay season through injury.
Bublik had dragged himself through two five-setters earlier in the tournament, including a win over Frances Tiafoe, but Fritz gave him little room to breathe. The first-set tie-break broke open the match, and Fritz stayed in front from there.
Fritz said the match came down to the pressure points, especially with both players leaning heavily on serve. “When I got my opportunities to break, I took them,” Fritz said. “When you have two guys serving big and short points, it is going to come down to key moments in the match and I thought I played them really well.”
The pressure is now on again at the sharp end of Wimbledon. Fritz has won 11 of his 13 grass-court matches this year, reached finals in Halle and Stuttgart, and has dropped just one set across four matches in south west London.
Next up is the winner of Alexander Zverev against Jiri Lehecka. Fritz has won his past seven matches against Zverev and leads Lehecka 4-2 in their head-to-head series.
For Fritz, the sports world is watching what happens next: one more win would match his best Wimbledon run.
