Fritz into Wimbledon quarter-finals after Thompson retires
The US fifth seed faced gruelling five-set battles in his opening two matches but it was a different story in his fourth-round encounter on Court One.
The Eastbourne champion broke Thompson twice to seal the first set in just 21 minutes and led 3-0 in the second set.
The Australian then had a medical time-out to deal with an apparent thigh problem.
He returned to the court and slipped 40-0 down in the fourth game before deciding he was unable to continue, with the match lasting just 41 minutes.
"He's been playing five-setters," said Fritz, 27. "He was out playing a long doubles match yesterday you know, so he's been battling out here and I respected him for coming out.
"Obviously his body's not right. So, you know, I feel bad for him."
Thompson, 44th in the rankings, was taken to five sets in his opening two singles matches at Wimbledon.
Fritz, seeking to reach his first Wimbledon semi-final, will next face Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov, who earlier beat Kamil Majchrzak with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 on Court Two.
Fritz won a record fourth Eastbourne title last month and was pushed to his limits in his opening two matches at the All England Club.
The world number five rallied from the brink to defeat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in five sets before going the distance against Gabriel Diallo in the second round.
He then downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in four sets, taking his time on court over three rounds to nearly 10 hours. - AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Batting order
Japan's Ahilya Chandel batting during the women's Sano City International Trophy cricket match against Hong Kong in Sano, Tochigi prefecture on June 4. — AFP LEGEND has it that death threats from disgruntled samurai warriors were behind Japan's first cricket match in 1863 and the sport has battled for recognition in the baseball-mad country ever since. But Japan's cricket association, which operates out of a disused school near a wooded mountain, says the sport is slowly gaining popularity and hopes next year's home Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics can take it to a new level. Billed as RM9.73 for the 1st month then RM13.90 thereafters. RM12.33/month RM8.63/month Billed as RM103.60 for the 1st year then RM148 thereafters. Free Trial For new subscribers only Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
'Stole the game': Wimbledon line-calling tech malfunctions
Umpire Nico Helwerth checks on a line call as Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova plays Sonay Kartal of Britain during a fourth round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. — AP LONDON: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova said a game was "stolen" from her after Wimbledon's electronic line-calling system failed at a key moment in her fourth-round match against Sonay Kartal on July 6. The Russian put the controversy behind her to beat the British player 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 in just over two hours on Centre Court. But the glitch in the fourth-round match follows concerns raised by other players about the technology. A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, ending nearly 150 years of history. On Sunday, a tight first set between Pavlyuchenkova and Kartal was marred by a computer failure that could have proved pivotal. At 4-4, Pavlyuchenkova, who had saved two break points in the game, held game point when a Kartal backhand landed clearly over the baseline but no call came. Chair umpire Nico Helwerth shouted "stop, stop" to halt play. Addressing the crowd, Helwerth said: "We're just going to check if the system was up and running, because there was no audio call." After a telephone call, he said the electronic system "was unfortunately unable to track the last point so we will replay the point". Kartal went on to break for a 5-4 lead. Pavlyuchenkova angrily made her case to the umpire, saying: "They stole the game from me, they stole it." Bu the Russian world number 50 broke back and won the tie-break to take a firm grip on the match, breaking twice in the second set to progress to the quarter-finals. The All England Club released a short statement on the incident. "Due to operator error the system was deactivated on the point in question," said an spokesman. "The chair umpire followed the established process." Automated line-calling technology has become standard across tennis, with all events on the men's ATP Tour and many WTA tournaments using it. The Australian Open and the US Open are fully automated but the French Open remains an outlier, sticking to human line judges. Britain's Emma Raducanu said she was unhappy about one call in particular during her defeat by Aryna Sabalenka on Friday. Jack Draper, the men's fourth seed, queried the accuracy of the system after his second-round defeat by Marin Cilic. Wimbledon chiefs have said they are confident in the technology. "Live electronic line-calling technology is now widely used week in and week out on tour," a spokesman said on Saturday. "The technology goes through a rigorous certification process and meets the (agreed) standards... so we can provide maximum accuracy in our officiating." Pavlyuchenkova will play Linda Noskova or Amanda Anisimova in the last eight. The 34-year-old was diagnosed with Lyme disease in February and has spent several months struggling to recover her form. – AFP
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
F1 drivers get trophies made of Lego at British GP
Trophies that are made out of Lego were given out to the winners of the recent Formula One British Grand Prix. — Photos: Reuters/Andrew Boyers The top three finishers in Sunday's British Formula One Grand Prix were rewarded for their efforts with trophies made of Lego toy bricks, a novelty appreciated by some more than others. The trophies are part of a multi-year partnership between Lego and Formula One that has already put drivers in a fleet of 10 brick-built cars for a pre-race parade at the Miami Grand Prix, a moment that went viral. "How does it feel after 15 years of F1 to get a podium (trophy) that's made out of Lego that you can just pull apart?," McLaren's runner-up Oscar Piastri asked Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, on the podium for the first time after 239 starts. "It's just made out of Lego that you can pull apart and probably buy next week," explained the Australian teasingly. "I love Lego. It's good. My daughter can play with it too. You've always got to see the bright side," replied the German. "But, you know, a bit of silver or gold would have been nice too, but I won't complain." Trophies that are made out of Lego were given out to the winners of the recent Formula One British Grand Prix. — Photos: Reuters/Andrew Boyers Sunday's race marked 75 years of the championship at the Silverstone circuit where it started in 1950 and the winner's gold-adorned Lego trophy, modelled on the real RAC golden trophy, is made of 2,717 bricks. It weighs more than 2 kg and is more than 59 cm high and, contrary to Piastri's assertion, cannot be bought as a kit. The second and third-placed trophies were white with red and blue detailing respectively, while the constructors' was dark blue and gold. "We wanted to create something very special because it's the 75th anniversary," Lego's chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin said. The blocks are stuck together with glue, and took seven builders 210 hours to create in Denmark. The trophies are part of a multi-year partnership between Lego and Formula One that has seen the company produce replicas of the cars. — Photo: The Lego Group New audiences Formula One is reaching out to a new demographic, and particularly a younger audience, with considerable success and has found partners in previously untapped areas. That includes deals with Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars, a 2026 collaboration with Disney's Mickey & Friends and Lego announced last year. Emily Prazer, Formula One's chief commercial officer, rejected any suggestion of the sport "dumbing down" and said the strategy was to make brands more accessible and reach out to those who may never go to a race. "Lego puts us in nearly every shopping mall in the world," she said. "Disney helps us appeal to the next generation of fans. Hot Wheels and Mattel allow for kids to actually play with the cars at home." Lego has produced sets based on real F1 cars that cater to both adults and children as well. — Photo: The Lego Group Goldin said Lego also appealed to more and more adults and had products that were intriguing to people with all kinds of interests. "The same is happening with F1 and there is a real benefit of how the sport is able to engage different people with different interests and different elements of the sport," she said. "We are not just trying to turn the sport into a toy but actually trying to help the fans to experience the best." – Reuters
