While there has been intense action over the past few days at the Wimbledon Championships, the tournament hasn’t been short of controversy. There has been a major uproar over the scheduling of the tournament, with rain playing a spoilsport across several matches, forcing them to be postponed. Earlier today, another scheduling blunder by the tournament caught the eyes of the tennis world, this time due to a different reason.
Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play his quarterfinal encounter against Alex de Minaur on the Centre Court today. However, the Australian star withdrew from the tournament at the 11th hour due to a hip injury. As a result, the Serb got a walkover into the semifinal of the tournament and this resulted in a vacant spot on the Centre Court.
While many were expecting that the pulsating encounter between Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti might probably be moved to the Centre Court, the tournament authorities had other thoughts. Instead, local bias was seen as the mixed doubles encounter featuring two British players, Joe Salisbury and Heather Watson was moved to the Centre Court. This patriotic move by Wimbledon came as a major blow to Fritz and Musetti, who were hoping to shine at tennis’ biggest stage on one of the grandest courts in the world.
However, this is not the first time in this event that Wimbledon has preferred patriotism over favoritism. Earlier in the tournament, Jack Draper’s match was shifted to the Centre Court instead of Iga Swiatek’s match, which didn’t go down well with many fans, who took to social media to condemn the tournament’s action.
Meanwhile, Fritz becomes the second American to enter the last eight at this year’s Wimbledon after Tommy Paul in the men’s singles. Although the latter lost yesterday against Carlos Alcaraz, Fritz is confident to carry his country’s hopes till the summit clash.
Taylor Fritz makes a candid confession after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals
The American star had a nerve-wracking victory over Alexander Zverev in the round of 16. Their match went right to the distance, with Fritz coming back from two sets to love down to win in five sets. Following his win, he reflected on equaling his best performance at Wimbledon.
Fritz revealed, “It was amazing to do that on Centre Court [at] Wimbledon, two sets down. This will be my first quarterfinal where I’m the more experienced person. What I enjoy the most on grass is just when you hit a good shot, you’re rewarded for it.”
Fritz will face Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals. Their match is scheduled on Court 1 and will begin shortly. Who are you rooting for to enter the Wimbledon semifinals? Let us know your views in the comments below.