‘I feel like a pussy': Thompson's body finally fails him at Wimbledon
Thompson retired while trailing fifth seed Taylor Fritz 6-1, 3-0 – already a double-break down in the second set – and having watched the American flash a forehand winner that he had no hope of chasing down to go 40-0 up.
At that stage, Fritz had won 40 of 52 points, and their fourth-round match had long ago lost any competitiveness as referred issues in Thompson's right leg from an ongoing back injury proved his downfall.
The world No.44 started well enough and had two game points to hold for two-all, only to aggravate the injury a point later, when he had to scurry back to the baseline to chase down a Fritz lob – and his physical problems worsened from there.
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It was a disappointing, but not particularly surprising, finish to Thompson's best-ever run at the All England Club, which matched his two round-of-16 showings at the US Open.
Alex de Minaur, who faces seven-time champion Novak Djokovic on Monday, is the last Australian left in the singles draw.
'I was pretty sore, and I was sore every day, and was waiting for [this] to happen … so I'm glad it happened today, and not in the first round, because, honestly, I was thinking of not playing this tournament,' Thompson said.
'I'm taking the positives. It's my best result here, so it's still a great tournament. [I was] down two sets to love in the first round, down two sets to one in the second round, and then played a good match the other day to make it through the second week.
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