Fritz through to Wimbledon quarter-finals after injured Thompson retires
Thompson, who came to the All England Club with a back issue, called for a medical timeout midway through the second set due to an apparent right thigh problem and after three more points decided to call it a day.
Fritz raced through the first set, hardly breaking sweat against his exhausted opponent who had played five-set matches in the first and second rounds and four sets in the previous round.
As the rain began hammering down on the Court One roof, so Fritz began raining down his serve, clinching the first set off the back of three aces. The American is ace king at Wimbledon so far with 79, 14 ahead of the next best - Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
Fritz broke Thompson easily in the opening game of the second and it was clear the Australian was struggling with his movement. The medical timeout after Fritz clinched another break only delayed the inevitable as the match was soon brought to a premature end.
"Not the way I wanted to go through, I was excited to play Jordan today, I was excited to play good tennis," Fritz said. "It's sad ... he's been battling out here, playing five-setters, I respect him for coming out ... I feel bad for him and I hope he gets better."
The 27-year-old Fritz, who reached his maiden Grand Slam final last year at the U.S. Open, continues chasing America's dream of a first male winner at Wimbledon since Pete Sampras in 2000 when he next faces 17th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
Fritz has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon but is the dominant player on grass this season having won titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.
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"It's a super special turnaround for me, considering where I was a year ago and losing in the quallies here last year, which was a bit heartbreaking," added the player who was ranked 189th a year ago. There were plenty of special moments for Anisimova during the contest in which rallies were in short supply. By the end of the 99-minute tussle, the stats showed that an average rally lasted less than three shots as Pavlyuchenkova's game collapsed under an avalanche of unforced errors. During the blink-and-you-will miss first set, the 2021 French Open runner-up produced only three winners while her unforced error count stood at 12. That kind of showing was never going to be enough to get past an opponent Pavlyuchenkova had never beaten in three previous meetings. Last time she had contested the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2016, she ran into an impenetrable wall called Serena Williams. On Tuesday, she left the court in floods of tears. "First set I thought she was playing incredible. 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CNA
2 hours ago
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Aunt Anisimova rocks with Jackson after reaching Wimbledon semis
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