Taylor Fritz came close to the biggest win of his career on Wednesday at Wimbledon against Rafael Nadal. But instead of advancing to his first major semi-final, the American lost against the 22-time major winner in a final-set tie-break and walked off court shattered.
“It was a tough match. I think I did some things well and some things not as good. In the end he was just really, really, really good,” Fritz said. “Certain parts of the match I felt like maybe I kind of just needed to come up with more, do more. I left a lot up to him, and he delivered. It was a great match. Honestly, probably hurts more than any loss I've ever had.”
The 24-year-old showed his dismay as he walked to the net to shake hands with Nadal, and took a moment at his chair before leaving the court.
“After the match was over, I was sitting there and I felt like crying, like I wanted to cry,” Fritz said. “I’ve never felt like that ever after a loss. I've never felt like I could cry after a loss. Just that's telling enough to know that this one hurt more than any other one's hurt before.”
The good news for Fritz is that he pushed the two-time Wimbledon champion to the absolute limits in his first major quarter-final. Although he was unable to claw past the Spaniard, Fritz showed he is capable of testing the best in the sport on tennis’ biggest stages.
Copyright
© Tennis - ATP World Tour