Fritz into Wimbledon semis after holding off Khachanov comeback

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LONDON -Fifth seed Taylor Fritz reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time on Tuesday after coming through a topsy-turvy four-setter against Karen Khachanov where the American seemed to be cruising, but then had to show all his fighting spirit.

Fritz eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) but must have thought he was in for an easier passage as he ripped through the first two sets.

Russias Khachanov, the 17th seed, also seeking a first Wimbledon semi, then won eight of the next nine games to take the third set and move a break up in the fourth.

Fritz, however, regrouped to immediately break back, regain control of his service, and triumph in the decisive tiebreak.

Ive never really had the match change like that so drastically where I felt so in control, playing great, serving great, Fritz said. I didnt feel like my serve was in danger, I felt like I was putting a lot of pressure on his serve.

I felt like I couldnt miss and then, out of nowhere, I just started making a ton of mistakes. So I really just had to fight to get that break back in the fourth and kind of just get the match back to neutral.

Fritz arrived at Wimbledon in hot grass form after title wins in Stuttgart and Eastbourne and got off to a flier on Tuesday, breaking in the second game and proceeding untroubled to take the set.

It got to 4-4 on serve in the second before Khachanov fell apart to be broken to love and Fritz served out to love for a 2-0 set lead.

In his opening 10 service games the American dropped only seven