Taylor Fritz rues knee injury in Zverev defeat: “I panicked”
The No 6 seed said he felt his right knee after just three games of his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 loss
Taylor Fritz, Wimbledon 2026 | © Chryslène Caillaud / PsNewz
American Taylor Fritz said he panicked after suffering a recurrence of his right knee injury in a straight-sets defeat by Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
The sixth seed said he felt knee pain after three games and then struggled to cope with it throughout.
“I almost wish I knew before so I could have prepared to play a match where I was going to be kind of playing through it,” he said, “because…three games in is when I started feeling it. I was already down a break.
“I was just, like, panicking, What am I going to do? I just didn’t expect it at all. The only signs I had were I had some pain towards the very end of my match with (Alexander) Bublik (in the previous round). I was already up two sets and a break.
I felt fine, my warm-up was great. Then, yeah, I have no answers as to why three games in it was like that.
“I thought maybe not the best sign that I was feeling it after that match, because it wasn’t super physical. But typically it’s how tendinitis is. He gets irritated sometimes. You give it a little bit of a rest, and then it feels better.
“I expected, after a light day yesterday, to feel fine today. I felt fine, felt really good in my warm-up actually. Felt like my warm-up was great. Then, yeah, I have no answers as to why three games in it was like that.”
Fritz had beaten Zverev in their past seven matches but had no answer to the brilliant serving of Zverev, who averaged 212kph (132.5mph) on his first serve.
“I don’t know what kind of difference it would have made in the match. He’s going to be extremely tough to beat the way he’s serving. He was very aggressive with his forehand and his backhand as well. Very aggressive. Hit the ball great. He played really well.
“Wasn’t the match that I was expecting. I would say I would have liked to feel 100 percent and try to give him a match. Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know why I felt like that today.”
I’m just really sad that I didn’t get the chance to, like, get into it.
With Arthur Fery, a British wildcard, making the semis, it seemed like a huge opportunity for Fritz and he couldn’t hide his disappointment.
“It’s just sad. I don’t want to take away from how well he’s playing. I’m not saying the result would have been any different. Like, he was playing very aggressive, doing a lot of things that he, I’d say, are big improvements to his game.
“He’s changing direction a lot with the backhand. He’s serving such high percentage, good spots. Really pulling the trigger with the forehand.
“I mean, it would have been an incredibly tough match. I’m just really sad that I didn’t get the chance to, like, get into it, I guess. I felt like just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was kind of all over the place.”
Fritz’s summer schedule
Zverev said he hoped the injury would not affect his summer schedule.
“I need to get a scan,” he said. “At this point I have so many different scans I can compare. Each one has looked better than the last, so…kind of just see where we’re at. I think if we were on the calendar schedule that we were on last year, then D.C. would be kind of out of the question for me. This year it’s like a week backed up. There will be plenty of time for me to rest it, get back on my rehab program, just kind of see how it feels.”
