Taylor Fritz is full of confidence as he prepares to face defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in their Wimbledon semifinal on Friday.
The No. 5 seed will face off with two-time reigning Wimbledon champion and world No. 2 Alcaraz on Friday.
Fritz defeated 17th seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) in the quarter-finals on Tuesday to progress to the last four at the All England Club for the first time.
The American holds a 0-1 head-to-head record against Alcaraz having lost the pair’s only ATP Tour meeting 6-4, 6-2 at the 2023 Miami Open. Fritz was also beaten 6-2, 7-5 by the Spaniard at the 2024 Laver Cup.
Following his win over Khachanov, Fritz spoke about the prospect of facing the five-time Grand Slam champion, who later crushed Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals.
“Well, if it’s him (Alcaraz), I’m happy. I’m happy that we’re not playing at the French Open on clay with the French Open balls, ’cause that would be an absolute nightmare (smiling),” said Fritz in his press conference.
“Yeah, I think grass is very much so an equaliser. It can be an equaliser. So trust in how I’m playing. I truly know the way that I played the first two sets today, there’s not much any opponent on the other side can do.”
The 27-year-old, who has won five of his 10 titles on grass, was asked whether he considers grass his best surface.
“Yeah, I mean, I would say so. I’ve made obviously a semi-final now, two other quarter-finals at Wimbledon,” he said.
“I think it speaks a lot that half of my titles are on grass, given that grass is such a short part of the year compared to everything else.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it would be dumb of me to say that grass isn’t my best surface.”
On being hard on himself with the standards he sets, Fritz said: “I’m still like that, for sure. I think it’s good for me to – it’s good because it pushes me to improve and get better.
“I think that the first couple rounds I was super happy with how I played from the baseline. I thought I could actually serve all my spots and serve a bit better. I felt like the last two matches, I think I started to dial that in a bit more.
“Yeah, I mean, the thing is when I’m playing matches, I try to kind of leave that on the practice court and just accept that whatever’s going on in the match, like, that’s what I have. I’m not going to get frustrated if certain things aren’t working.
“When it comes to practising and training, I think being hard on myself and being real with myself of what’s working in my game and what’s not working, it’s good for me to keep improving.”
