Taylor Fritz Plays 109 Games for Just Two Rounds of Wimbledon

LONDON, WEDNESDAY — Having just completed the first two rounds at Wimbledon, Taylor Fritz has already played 109 games. The number of games played by the American men's singles player is among the highest in the last three years.

Fritz played the total games in matches that lasted five sets each. In the second round on Court 1 of the All England Club, London, England, Wednesday (2/7/2025), Fritz defeated Gabriel Diallo with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-3. The match lasted for three hours and six minutes.

In the first round, Fritz also struggled in a five-set match lasting three hours and 25 minutes. The fifth seed dropped the first two sets against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, then recovered to win 6-7 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4.

The initial round was completed in two days. Since the match had not concluded by Monday at 11:00 PM, which is the daily deadline for matches, the game between Fritz and Mpetshi was continued on Tuesday. Consequently, Fritz played for three consecutive days.

A total of 109 games played by Fritz is the third highest number in the first two rounds of Wimbledon since 2022. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina played 112 games in 2022 but was eliminated in that round after being defeated by Jiri Vesely.

Stefanos Tsitsipas played a total of 115 games in the first two rounds of Wimbledon 2023. Tsitsipas again played five games, in 51 sets, against Christopher Eubanks in the fourth round but lost.

"An extraordinary match. I was almost defeated in the fourth set even though it felt like I didn't make many mistakes. After that, I took advantage of every opportunity well. I am very happy to have won a match like that," said Fritz, who will face Fokina or Botic Van De Zandschulp in the third round.

Fokina led against Zandschulp 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 5-5 when the match was halted on Wednesday night due to darkness. The match will continue on Thursday.

After undergoing an intense three-day competition, Fritz stated that he is entitled to rest on Thursday, when he has no match scheduled. However, he will still train with a light program before entering the third round on Friday.

Fritz is quite exhausted from the busy schedule he has been following since early June. After being eliminated in the first round of the French Open Grand Slam, he took advantage of the three-week break before Wimbledon to compete in three grass court tournaments, namely the ATP 250 Stuttgart, ATP 500 London, and ATP 250 Eastbourne. Fritz emerged as the champion in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.

The championship title in Eastbourne, England, was achieved from the final that took place on June 28. After a one-day break, Fritz competed in the first round of Wimbledon on June 30.

Another tennis player who always plays five sets to reach the third round is Jordan Thompson. The Australian player defeated Benjamin Bonzi 7-5, 6-7 (2), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round.

Carlos Alcaraz also played five sets in the first round against the 38-year-old player, Fabio Fognini, but he was able to play faster to win the second round. Competing against the young local player, Oliver Tarvet, on the Main Court, Alcaraz won 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to face Jan Lennard Struff or Felix Auger Aliassime in the third round.

"I must give credit to Oliver. He played well in his first experience on the Main Court, even though it was a difficult challenge. I also liked his performance," said Alcaraz about Tarvet, who played since the qualifying phase and ultimately made his debut in the main round of the Grand Slam.

Alcaraz arrived at the All England this year after successfully defending his title at the French Open. If he wins Wimbledon, as he did in 2023 and 2024, Alcaraz will match the achievement of men's singles legend Bjorn Borg, who won the French Open and Wimbledon in two or more consecutive years. Borg accomplished this feat in three consecutive years, from 1978 to 1980.

Rafael Nadal has won the French Open and Wimbledon titles twice, but not consecutively. He achieved this in 2008 and 2010. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic accomplished this feat in 2021.

Winning both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year poses one of the most significant challenges in professional tennis competition, as the two tournaments are held on courts with distinctly different characteristics. Moreover, the time available to adapt to both types of surfaces is relatively short.

The French Open is held on clay courts that reflect the ball slowly and high. In contrast, the grass courts of Wimbledon cause the ball to bounce very quickly and low. Players often have to hit the ball while kneeling.

After the French Open, the grass court tournament takes place the following week. The gap between the French Open and Wimbledon is only three weeks; in fact, there have been instances where it was just two weeks apart.

As in the first two days of the tournament, the third day was marked by the elimination of top ten seeded players. This time, the fourth seed, who is the finalist of the 2024 Wimbledon women's singles, Jasmine Paolini, lost in the second round. Paolini was defeated by Kamila Rakhimova with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 4-6.

"It is very difficult to accept this result. I am still thinking about the second set that I should have won, but for some reason, my focus fluctuated. This should not happen if I want to perform consistently at the Grand Slam level," commented Paolini.

The Italian tennis player reached the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon 2024, marking his first experience in a Grand Slam final. However, after that, his best results at the same level were only the fourth round of the US Open 2024 and the French Open 2025.

With this result, the women's singles have lost five of the top ten seeds. Four others were defeated in the first round, namely Cori Gauff (2), Jessica Pegula (3), Zheng Qin Wen (5), and Paula Badosa (9).

Those who have secured tickets to the third round are Aryna Sabalenka (1) and Madison Keys (6). Meanwhile, three other seeds will compete in the second round on Thursday, namely Mirra Andreeva (7), Iga Swiatek (8), and Emma Navarro (10).

In the men's singles competition, four top ten seeds were eliminated in the first round. They are Alexander Zverev (3), Lorenzo Musetti (7), Holger Rune (8), and Daniil Medvedev (9). (AFP/AP)