Another giant of men's tennis fell by the wayside on Tuesday when No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev was upset by No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz in four sets, 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3), in the quarterfinals. Zverev's defeat marked yet another stunning result after No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz were defeated earlier in the tournament.

It's the second consecutive Grand Slam where Fritz has defeated Zverev after his five-set victory over the German back at Wimbledon in July. After the match, Zverev expressed his disgust with his level of play in the close loss.

“I played terrible. Just from the baseline — I mean, serving and actually returning was actually okay. From the baseline I played absolutely terrible. I don't know… I don't know. I just have no answers right now. And don't say that Taylor didn't deserve to win. No, he absolutely deserved to win today. I'm not taking anything away from him. He played quite a good match. I did nothing to deserve to win.”

Tuesday's defeat marks another heartbreaking Grand Slam loss for Zverev after losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open and the final of the French Open in 2024. As a result, he remains one of the best tennis players ever to never win a Grand Slam as the 2024 season draws to a close.

Taylor Fritz reaches first slam semifinal with win over Zverev

Taylor Fritz (USA) after beating Alexander Zverev (GER) on day nine of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
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Taylor Fritz, the top-ranked American men's tennis player and No. 12 seed at this year's US Open, has reached another career benchmark. His four-set win over Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals lifted him into his first career Grand Slam semifinal.

Fritz had previously reached the quarterfinals of a major four times, most recently falling to Lorenzo Musetti at that stage of Wimbledon just six weeks ago. On Friday, he will have a chance to reach his first career major final on Friday when he takes on either fellow American Frances Tiafoe or Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

On the other side of the draw, No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur and No. 25 seed Jack Draper will square off in one quarterfinal, while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 5 Daniil Medvedev will do battle in a blockbuster matchup on Wednesday night. Out of the seven remaining players, only Sinner and Medvedev have previously won a Grand Slam.

Fritz will also be looking to become the first American man to reach a major final since 2009, and the first to win a major since 2003 (both marks are held by Andy Roddick). However, regardless of what happens on finals weekend, Fritz has achieved a career milestone at this US Open.