Taylor Fritz will be looking to ‘Mike Tyson‘ Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of the US Open. The impending question that stands is whether Fritz or his girlfriend Morgan Riddle extends the spears against the German star. Naturally, it won’t be a surprise if that happens. Obviously the second time’s a charm. On that note, let’s dive into what happened when the duo locked horns last time at a Grand Slam stage, inducing a feisty drama, both on and off the court.

Both players were set for a blockbuster fourth-round encounter at Wimbledon. A thriller was ensured. What fans didn’t expect is for the trio to step into hot waters following Riddle’s alleged comments on Zverev‘s d-mestic v-olence accusations by his former girlfriends. Though both imputations were denied by ‘Sascha’, he was ultimately advised to settle the case with his former partner. Despite maintaining his innocence and paying a cumulative fine of $216,000, Riddle allegedly mocked the former World No. 4. This is where the juicy part comes in.

Before the showdown, Riddle took to social media and posted an Instagram story reading “Cheer loud ladies” to support her superstar boyfriend. However, the mention of “ladies” fetched fans’ attention, wondering if this was the American influencer’s way of taking a sly dig at Zverev‘s legal battles. And then, things got interesting on the court.

Facing a two-set deficit, Fritz scripted a jaw-dropping five-set comeback victory against ‘Sascha’. But their match ended on an awkward note.

As Taylor Fritz attempted to leave the SW19 arena, the German blocked him and entered into a curious conversation with the former. The American star later cleared the air about what they discussed, highlighting that ‘Sascha’ was just “annoyed at some people in my box being loud, cheering for me”. However, Zverev also addressed the confrontation in a follow-up presser, saying,

“I think there’s some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world … They were a bit over the top”, cueing fans to think of his cryptic comments as shots towards the American star’s girlfriend. But Riddle wasn’t looking to back down easily.

She uploaded a celebratory post on her IG handle, captioning “When ur man wins 4 the girl “. Once again, this left fans in speculation about whether her mysterious “girls” remark pertained to Zverev’s off-court battles. Following the theatrics, there came some sense of clarity. Explaining how her comments were taken out of context, Riddle deleted both the post and issued a candid admission.

She said, “Regarding my stories yesterday… I took them down as soon as I realized the misunderstanding and how blown out of proportion they had become by the media. They were not about anything that’s happened off the tennis court and there’s no bad blood between anyone. Super proud of T for the match yesterday, thank you to the crowd for the support.”

Similarly, Zverev had to take some things off of his chest as well. Only this time, his comments reflected his poignant take on the fourth-round loss.

Alexander Zverev was contenting a knee injury during R4 clash with Taylor Fritz

“I was playing on one leg. It was fairly obvious that I wasn’t 100% today, right?” Zverev asked reporters before elaborating that an MRI scan had shown that he had a tear in his knee capsule as well as bone bruising.

“I wasn’t moving, really, the entire match. I wasn’t running for drop shots. If I was running for a drop shot, I was limping there more than running. I didn’t want to go out without fighting. At the same time I was limited. It is how it is. I’m still proud of what I could do today.”

For context. Alexander Zverev overcame a painful left knee injury to defeat Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(15) at Wimbledon. The German twice required medical attention on Centre Court but persevered to secure a hard-fought victory against the home favorite.

Even Fritz was surprised to learn that Zverev had been playing on a compromised knee throughout their match, which he had considered being a typical contest until he broke Zverev in the fifth set and secured a 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.

In summary, it is time for a rematch now that the German is free of any physical restraints.