Zverev stopped Fritz for a chat at the net after losing to the American at Wimbledon.
Taylor Fritz downplayed a post-match situation with Alexander Zverev and claimed that the German didn’t have any issues with him but just wanted to clear some things that he felt probably weren’t fair.
On Monday afternoon at The All England Club, Zverev started strongly against Fritz and went up by two sets. But then, Fritz created one of the biggest comebacks of his career to defeat the world No. 4 4-6 6-7 (4) 6-4 7-6 (3) 6-3 and make his second Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Moments after the match ended, Zverev shook Fritz’s hand but also stopped the 26-year-old American at the net. During a conversation that lasted for a good 10-15 seconds, it appeared that Zverev was trying to explain something to Fritz. The entire time the chat was conducted in a good manner but it wasn’t hard to figure out that Zverev wasn’t happy about something.
Later, Fritz suggested that Zverev felt that some members of the American’s box went over the top in their support after the German started being impacted by his knee injury.
“I think he was annoyed at some people in my box just being loud, cheering for me – which, honestly, I can’t hear; I don’t know,” Fritz said on Tennis Channel.
“(Zverev) was just like, ‘good match; all good.’ I think he was a little upset about I guess my team members cheering for me when he was injured. But he said, you know, ‘Nothing to do with you – you’re all good,’ whatever. So I mean whatever, it’s all good.
“I wasn’t wishing him a flight home, so…”
What Zverev said after the match and what was probably the real issue?
During the match, Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle posted an Instagram Story that was captioned: “Cheer loud ladies.” After the match was over, Riddle posted a follow-up Instagram Story which saw her celebrating – the post was captioned: “When your man wins 4 the girls.”
In the past couple of years, Zverev battled physical abuse allegations that were made by two of his ex-girlfriends – Olga Sharypova and Brenda Patea. Most recently, Zverev settled an assault case that was brought by Patea.
After fans noticed Riddle’s Instagram Stories – which have been since deleted – the logical conclusion was that Zverev probably wasn’t happy with her during the match.
And after the match, Zverev all but confirmed that was indeed the case because he didn’t have any issues with Fritz and his coaching staff but just with some others who were sitting in the American’s box. To no one’s surprise, many instantly felt that the German tennis star was talking about Riddle.
“His team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physio, also his second coach, they’re extremely respectful,” Zverev said after the match.
“I think there’s 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.”
What Fritz said about his team after the match?
After staging one of the most impressive comebacks of his career, Fritz made sure to credit his team for being there for him.
“My team has always given me so much support and love. Most of the time I was looking up to them I was complaining about something. But it’s great to have them here. This week or two weeks when we’ve been here at Wimbledon, it’s been a great team experience,” Fritz also said of his team after the match.
Meanwhile, Fritz is now set to battle against world No. 25 Lorenzo Musetti for a place in the Wimbledon semifinal.
While Musetti has been playing very well during the grass season – the Italian was a Stuttgart semifinalist before finishing as runner-up at Queen’s – Fritz will still very much like his chances in this matchup.
“The key is always to serve and return well. If I do those two things well, I will have my chances. Luckily for me, in the next match it should be hypothetically easier than today to return serve, but it will be difficult because he has been playing very well, he made the final at Queen’s. This will be my first quarter-final with experience in this round at a Grand Slam and having played against Novak twice and Rafa once. Hopefully that will help me a bit,” Fritz explained.
Fritz owns a 2-1 head-to-head versus Musetti and also he defeated the Italian in their lone grass-court meeting that came at 2022 Wimbledon.
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