Alastair Gray beaten by 11th seed Taylor Fritz in Wimbledon second round

The Twickenham ace battled well against the world No 14

Andy Sims
Thursday 30 June 2022 13:36 BST
Alastair Gray lost to Taylor Fritz (Zac Goodwin/PA)
Alastair Gray lost to Taylor Fritz (Zac Goodwin/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

British wild card Alastair Gray bowed out of Wimbledon with a straight-sets defeat to American hot shot Taylor Fritz.

The Twickenham ace, who beat world number 95 Tseng Chun-hsin in the first round, faced a huge step up in class against 11th seed Fritz.

He pushed Fritz hard, especially in the second set, but ultimately slipped to a 6-3 7-6 (3) 6-3 defeat.

Nevertheless, the 24-year-old will pick up a £78,000 pay cheque for his efforts on his debut at SW19.

Gray created a break point in the opening game against the Eastbourne champion, but he was unable to convert it and promptly dropped his serve to love in the next.

Gray, who somehow hit a drop shot winner despite slipping on the baseline, forced another two break points as Fritz served for the set, but the world number 14 saved both before moving 1-0 ahead.

The British number nine did take one of his opportunities and served for the second set but Fritz, also 24, struck back and took the tie-break.

With friend and doubles partner Ryan Peniston – another second-round casualty on Wednesday – watching from the stands, Gray broke again at the start of the third.

But Fritz was unfazed and hit straight back, winning five games in a row to ultimately send the new home favourite packing.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in