Wimbledon: Taylor Fritz ends U.S. men major quarterfinal drought; Nick Kyrgios escapes

Taylor Fritz became the first U.S. man to make a major quarterfinal since the January 2020 Australian Open, reaching the last eight at Wimbledon and setting up a possible matchup with Rafael Nadal.

Fritz, the No. 11 seed, dispatched 99th-ranked Australian qualifier Jason Kubler 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the fourth round on Monday. Nadal plays No. 21 seed Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands later Monday.

WIMBLEDON DRAWS: Women | Men

Fritz beat an injured Nadal in the Indian Wells final in March, marking the biggest tournament title for a U.S. man in more than a decade.

The last U.S. man to make a major quarterfinal was Tennys Sandgren at the 2020 Australian Open.

Minutes before Fritz advanced, Australian Nick Kyrgios powered through a right shoulder injury to reach his first major quarterfinal since 2015, outlasting American Brandon Nakashima 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-2.

“It wasn’t anywhere near my best performance,” said Kyrgios, who took a medical timeout for the shoulder in the third set, when he received treatments during multiple changeovers. “I need a glass of wine for sure tonight.”

Asked about the shoulder, Kyrgios said he’s played a lot of tennis in the last month and a half. This is his fourth grass-court event since the start of June. Many top players enter one (or zero) grass-court lead-up events before Wimbledon.

Kyrgios, now 6-0 in Wimbledon five-setters, next plays 43rd-ranked Chilean Cristian Garin. Garin erased a two-set deficit, and two match points, to oust No. 19 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia in a fifth-set tiebreak.

“I was really excited to play de Minaur,” Kyrgios said. “I came on court when he was two sets to love up, so I was actually expecting to play him.”

Nakashima, a 20-year-old ranked No. 56, was bidding to become the youngest U.S. man to make a major quarterfinal since Andy Roddick in 2003.

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Wimbledon: Taylor Fritz ends U.S. men major quarterfinal drought; Nick Kyrgios escapes originally appeared on NBCSports.com