Can anyone beat Alexander Zverev eight times in a row?
That’s the question that Taylor Fritz hopes to answer with an emphatic yes on Wednesday as the pair meet for the 16th time.
Since Fritz beat Zverev in four sets at Wimbledon in 2024, the rivalry (if you want to call it that) has been as lopsided as they come, but Zverev, fresh off his first Grand Slam title last month at Roland Garros, believes he can change the tone.
“I think the last couple of times that we’ve played, it’s actually quite simple,” he said. “Taking out the match in Halle, because in Halle I was struggling, I openly said I was struggling with my sugar quite a lot, so take that match out.
“The other matches, he was just better than me. It’s sometimes as simple as that. He was in better form. He was playing better than me. That’s about it. The matches that we played, it was quite simple: he was better than me.”
Zverev, who defeated Jiri Lechecka in four sets to reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal on Tuesday, won five of his first eight matches against Fritz, including two at Wimbledon in 2018 and 2021, and he believes he can get back on the winning side.
“I do feel different now,” he says. “I do feel like I play better. I do feel like I’m in better form. I do believe I can win tomorrow.”
Zverev says his growth in general, and on grass, is helping him reach a new level at Wimbledon this year.
“I think generally this year I’m playing better than I did last year and the previous years,” he said. “I think I’ve adapted better on grass, as well. For sure I’ve adapted my game a little bit. I don’t know if you noticed, but my return position is a lot closer to the baseline, sometimes inside the baseline, which it wasn’t the last couple of years.
“I felt more confident and comfortable there than I did the last couple of years. I think all of these things, they’re just better on grass than they were before.”
