Andre Agassi has sent an emotional and heartfelt message to Taylor Fritz immediately after losing the Wimbledon semi-final.
It was a battling, gritty performance from the American, who remained competitive with the world’s best grass-court player throughout.
And, in stealing the second set, there was a genuine belief that he might be able to pull off the ultimate upset.
Dragging the fourth set to a tiebreak only reinforced that notion, and as he brought about a set point but failed to convert. Sadly, you cannot give away chances like that against a player of Carlos Alcaraz’s calibre.
Taylor Fritz trudged off the court, ruing chances missed.
Andre Agassi praises Taylor Fritz’s Wimbledon semi-final performance
Seeing Fritz so downhearted, Agassi’s empathy instantly kicked in.
It was seeing such sadness from his compatriot that likely spurred on an emotional speech, as he sent a message to Fritz on the benefits that are to come in his immediate future.
The eight-time Grand Slam champion stated: “Taylor, well done. You are paving the way for every American to believe they can and should expect more from themselves. You are a hell of a competitor. You deserve every bit of this. You are going to get your chances if you stay with it.
“Congratulations to Mike Russell and Paul Annacone. Keep making good decisions, keep being who you are, and I can’t wait to watch more of you.”
Fritz was compared to Agassi during his Wimbledon quarter-final, ironically, but he could not channel the great champion to overcome Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz reaches a third-straight Wimbledon final
Alcaraz is rewriting history with his unbelievable penchant to consistently reach the latter stages of these elite events.
Wimbledon is simply his playground.
This year marks his third-straight Wimbledon final, having won the last two against Novak Djokovic. There’s every chance that they could meet once again, should he beat Jannik Sinner later today.
If he wins the title this year, Alcaraz will join an elite group of players to have claimed the crown three times at the All-England Club. Other names include the aforementioned Serbian superstar, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg.
At his current rate, the 22-year-old is on track to surpass all of them.
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