
Wimbledon: Fritz advances after Thompson retirement, books Khachanov date
Taylor Fritz will face Karen Khachanov in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, having progressed through the last 16 as a result of Jordan Thompson's retirement on Sunday.
Fifth seed Fritz was 6-1 3-0 up after 41 minutes of play on No.1 Court when Thompson threw in the towel, having struggled with a right thigh problem.
The Australian had also played through a back issue to reach the fourth round, and he started to look uncomfortable with his movement late in the first set, following back-to-back breaks for Fritz.
Thompson had his thigh strapped up before the second set began, only to call an off-court medical timeout after Fritz surged to two more quick breaks.
The Australian – who won the US Open doubles title alongside Max Purcell last year and is due to team up with Pierre-Hugues Herbert to face defending champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten on Monday – attempted to play on but only got through three points before retiring.
Fritz will face Khachanov on Tuesday, as the American hunts a first semi-final appearance at SW19.
Before rain halted play on the outside courts, Khachanov raced to a 6-4 6-2 6-3 victory over Poland's Kamil Majchrzak to reach his sixth grand slam quarter-final – and his second at Wimbledon after losing to Dominic Thiem in 2021.
Data Debrief: Fritz gaining momentum on grass
Fritz has now reached the last eight at three of the last four editions of Wimbledon, having previously lost to Rafael Nadal (in 2022) and Lorenzo Musetti (in 2024) at that stage.
He will be hopeful of going at least one better this time around, though.
Fritz's victory may not have come in the manner he envisaged, but it was his 35th in ATP-Tour level matches on grass since the start of 2020. That is the most of any player on the tour, surpassing Alexander Bublik (34). Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev have 33 each.
Fritz is also the first American man to reach back-to-back quarter-finals at the Championships since Sam Querrey did so in 2016 and 2017.
Khachanov, meanwhile, last appeared in the last eight of a major in 2023, when he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic at Roland-Garros.