Fritz Advances to Wimbledon Quarterfinals After Thompson's Early Withdrawal

Who will join Karen Khachanov in the Wimbledon quarterfinals? After the Russian's victory earlier in the day, Taylor Fritz and Jordan Thompson faced off for a spot in the Final 8 in London. On Court 1, the American was the favorite, but the Australian has a strong grass-court game and can trouble many players on this surface.

However, the anticipated battle between the two never materialized. Struggling from the start, Thompson threw in the towel while trailing 6-1, 3-0, 40/0.

Physically hampered, he was unable to continue and retired after less than 45 minutes of play. Without needing to dig deep into his reserves—unlike in his matches against Mpetshi Perricard and Diallo—Fritz advances to the quarterfinals of the London Grand Slam for the third time in the last four years, following 2022 and 2024.

Now, with a chance to reach his first career semifinal at a major, Fritz will face Khachanov, whom he has never beaten in their two previous meetings. However, both of those matches were played on hard courts and before the COVID pandemic, as they haven’t faced each other since the ATP Cup in January 2020.

The Russian had won that encounter in three sets, just months after defeating the current world No. 5 at the Shanghai Masters 1000. The winner of this third chapter between the two will secure their first-ever semifinal berth at Wimbledon.