Taylor Fritz defeated No. 17 seed Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) to advance to his first Wimbledon semifinal Tuesday, becoming the first American man to reach that stage of the grass-court Slam since John Isner in 2018.
The fifth-seeded Fritz has been rolling since the calendar flipped to the grass-court season, with a 13-1 record on the surface that included a pair of titles at Stuttgart and Eastbourne.
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Fritz joins Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton as the only American men to make multiple major semifinal appearances. But he is the first active American man to reach the semifinals or better at a non-hardcourt major.
Shelton will be looking to join him on Wednesday, if he can get past world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The last Wimbledon to feature two American men in the semifinals was 2000 (Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi).
The U.S. hasn’t had a male Wimbledon finalist since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The 2024 US Open runner-up, Fritz is chasing his first Grand Slam title — and Wimbledon hasn’t produced a first-time major champion since Roger Federer in 2003. The run of 20 straight Wimbledons without a first-time major champion is the longest streak in tournament history.
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
