By Christian Radnedge
LONDON (Reuters) -American fifth seed Taylor Fritz had little trouble in reaching his third Wimbledon quarter-final after his Australian opponent Jordan Thompson retired with a thigh injury at 6-1 3-0 down in their fourth-round meeting on Sunday.
Thompson, who came to the All England Club with a back issue, called for a medical timeout midway through the second set due to an apparent right thigh problem and after three more points decided to call it a day.
Fritz raced through the first set, hardly breaking sweat against his exhausted opponent who had played five-set matches in the first and second rounds and four sets in the previous round.
As the rain began hammering down on the Court One roof, so Fritz began raining down his serve, clinching the first set off the back of three aces. The American is ace king at Wimbledon so far with 79, 14 ahead of the next best – Chilean Nicolas Jarry.
Fritz broke Thompson easily in the opening game of the second and it was clear the Australian was struggling with his movement. The medical timeout after Fritz clinched another break only delayed the inevitable as the match was soon brought to a premature end.
“Not the way I wanted to go through, I was excited to play Jordan today, I was excited to play good tennis,” Fritz said. “It’s sad … he’s been battling out here, playing five-setters, I respect him for coming out … I feel bad for him and I hope he gets better.”
The 27-year-old Fritz, who reached his maiden Grand Slam final last year at the U.S. Open, continues chasing America’s dream of a first male winner at Wimbledon since Pete Sampras in 2000 when he next faces 17th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov.
Fritz has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon but is the dominant player on grass this season having won titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.
(Reporting by Christian Radnedge; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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