By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) – American Taylor Fritz said he pulled off the shot of his life to win the second set against Britain’s Alastair Gray on the way to a 6-3 7-6(3) 6-3 second-round Wimbledon win on Thursday.
Gray appeared to have saved a set point in the tiebreak with an angled volley and had turned away, fist-pumping, only for Fritz to launch himself across the Court 12 turf.
The 11th seeded Fritz managed to scoop the ball up and play it into the open court with Gray paying the price for his premature celebrations.
Fritz dominated thereafter and the 24-year-old moved through to play Slovakian Alex Molcan when victory would put him into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.
Asked about his superman-style shot, Fritz said it ranked as the best he had ever hit.
“It was the first thing I looked at when I got off the court,” he told reporters. “That was insane. I mean, it was a huge point. He hit a good volley crosscourt.
“I don’t know. I just thought, it bounced up a bit and I heard the crowd cheering like the point was over, but I thought if I fully lay out for this one, I’m pretty long, I feel if I just dive at this one, maybe I can get a racket on it.
“It felt really good. That’s got to be number one because especially just the moment, as well, it’s a huge set point.”
Fritz has never been to the last 16 of any Grand Slam but now has a golden opportunity against the unseeded Molcan.
He said 37-year-old John Isner’s win over twice champion Andy Murray on Wednesday was inspiring him and the other Americans and believes the tennis superpower is in good shape, even if there are no obvious candidates to win a Slam.
“It’s definitely just improving, improving our games. Becoming, you know, stronger, better players than we all are,” he said.
“We are all good inside the top 40, top 30, and any given week we can go really deep in the tournament, but to beat the best players in the world, it’s just going to take a little bit more,” Fritz added.
“We have a lot of depth and everyone is on the younger side. There’s still a lot of time for improvement. If I can kind of keep improving at this rate, then I’ll get there.
“The same goes for everybody else.”
As well as Fritz and Isner, Tommy Paul, Steve Johnson and Frances Tiafoe are also in the third round and that number is likely to grow later on Thursday.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
