Wimbledon 2025: Fritz beats Davidovich Fokina to seal last-16 spot

For a brief moment, it looked like Taylor Fritz’s Independence Day celebrations could be ruined, but some final-set fireworks propelled the American into the last 16 at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-1 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Friday.

It had all looked to be going so well for the world number five, who had been taken to five sets in his last two encounters but raced into a two-set lead against Spain’s Davidovich Fokina on a sunny Centre Court.

He was a break up in the third and serving for the match when his normally reliable delivery spluttered as the 27th-ranked Spaniard finally converted a break point and then forced a tiebreak, which he won in a tense tussle.

With his tail up, it felt like momentum had switched, but Fritz, whose languid manner never gives up a hint of frustration, swiftly rediscovered his form and turned the tide, breaking three times in the final set to wrap up victory.

While there was almost certainly a part of him that was grateful for not being dragged the distance for a third match in a row, the 27-year-old American said he was feeling great ahead of a fourth-round meeting with Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

“This is going to sound crazy, but my body is actually feeling better after each match,” he said. “I feel like somehow it felt the worst after my first round, but now it’s getting better.”