Nadal & Fritz Into Fifth Set At Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz’s Wimbledon quarter-final has entered a deciding set after the second-seeded Spaniard dug deep to level proceedings Wednesday on Centre Court.

Nadal, who won the Australian Open in January and Roland Garros in June, is seeking to keep his bid for the 2022 Grand Slam alive at the grass-court major in London. For the 11th seed Fritz, a first Grand Slam semi-final spot is on the line.

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The American reeled off five games in a row to clinch the first set, before Nadal left the court for a medical timeout when leading 4-3 in the second set. Although the Spaniard still appeared in clear discomfort, particularly when serving, he stayed aggressive to break Fritz’s serve twice to level the match.

Fritz, bidding to become the youngest American man to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick in 2005, looked to have regained control of the match after he capitalised on Nadal errors to break twice and ease to the third set, before more solid groundstrokes earned him another break in the opening game of the fourth. The Spaniard was typically resolute, however, going for his shots to keep points short to prevail in a fourth set that featured five breaks of serve.

Whoever comes out on top in the decider will face Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals, after the Australian was a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(5) winner in his quarter-final matchup against Cristian Garin.