LONDON: American Taylor Fritz said his Wimbledon quarterfinals loss to Rafa Nadal was the most painful of his career after the Spaniard made a remarkable comeback and won the tiebreak in the fifth set.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner, who was struggling with an abdominal injury, once appeared close to elimination mid-game but found the mental strength to lead Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 3: 6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) to beat. He whipped the adoring crowd into joyous madness but left his opponent emotionally devastated.
“(That) probably hurts more than any defeat I’ve ever had,” Fritz said after the match, his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“I’m confident to say this is number one because literally after the game ended I sat there wanting to cry like I wanted to cry. I’ve never felt like this after losing. I’ve never felt like crying after a loss.
“Just that says enough to know that this one hurt more than anyone before.”
The 24-year-old clinched his first-ever Masters 1000 crown by beating an injured 36-year-old Nadal at Indian Wells earlier this year but was unable to overcome his opponent’s experience at the All England Club.
Fritz said missed chances cost him dearly, especially since Nadal stayed in the match in the fourth and fifth sets as he failed to put pressure on the two-time champion.
“I just had to do more of these games. I had to cut it short. I had to at least get him to like 30-All, to make him think that if he loses another point, it’s a match point,” he told reporters.
With fans firmly on Nadal’s side, Fritz lamented that viewer support might have been useful too – not that he blames viewers for their loyalty.
“I can’t be mad when it’s someone like Nadal. I mean, it’s Nadal,” he said. “How can you question someone because they want to cheer them on?”