Fritz vs. Zverev: US Open Rematch Drama

They get together once more. Tuesday in Queens, New York, is scheduled to  see Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev square   off in the US Open quarterfinals. This will  be their first meeting since the American's   thrilling Round-of-16 triumph over his  German opponent at Wimbledon in July. Zverev was upset about the noise  emanating from Fritz's box,   where his girlfriend Morgan Riddle was sitting,  following the five-set thriller in London. A strange social media remark from  Riddle that many took to be a reference   to 2020 domestic violence allegations  against Zverev increased the mystery. Riddle, a social media influencer  with 17.2 million TikTok likes,   removed an Instagram video with the tagline, "when  your man wins 4 the girls," after it was posted. Zverev has not been found guilty of any crimes  and continues to assert his innocence. However,   in June, he consented to pay approximately   $240,000 in settlement with his  accuser, the mother of his kid. Since then, Riddle has maintained that  she was not making reference to Zverev,   as a lot of Fritz's admirers had thought. In a later video, she added, "With regard to  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 had nothing to do with anything  that had occurred off the tennis court,   and there was no animosity between the parties. "Very proud of T [Taylor] for the game yesterday,   appreciating the support from the  audience and excited for tomorrow." It goes without saying that Fritz, Riddle, and  Zverev had more disagreements during Wimbledon. Following the five-set contest in London,   there seemed to be a heated confrontation  between the two players at the net. Subsequently, the German expressed his displeasure   with certain individuals in Fritz's box  who may not be from the tennis world.' That day, Riddle was sitting in Fritz's box. "Everyone on his team is very respectful."  Zverev stated, "I believe his coach,   his physiotherapist, and also his second  coach, they're extremely respectful." "I believe there are other individuals in the box  who may not be from the tennis community or who   may not be avid spectators of every match," the  author speculates. They were a little excessive. Since then, Zverev and Fritz have spoken,  the American said to reporters at Wimbledon. "I believe he was a little offended by my  teammates' support during his injury, but he   told me it had nothing to do with you." Everyone  is doing well. Whatever, everything is fine. After Andy Roddick accomplished so in 2007,   Fritz became the first American to advance  to the US Open quarterfinals on Sunday. After the match, Fritz, who is 0-4 in Slam  quarterfinals (including the US Open last year),   remarked, "I think as you get better,  your expectations go up." What brings   you happiness and satisfaction in terms  of rankings and outcomes also rises. "I believe that in the past, when I  made it to the quarterfinals at Slams,   I was extremely happy and excited."  I believe I've reached a stage where,   even though I wouldn't be happy if it ended here,  I would still be glad to make the quarterfinals. Yes, there were times on Sunday when  Fritz's faith in himself was called   into question. After a lengthy rally, he  shot into the net and dropped his racket   in despair before reaching a second (and  successful) set point to level the match   in front of the loudest crowd in Louis  Armstrong Stadium (he later explained   that he was displeased with the ball  taking a terrible bounce off the line). But instead of letting the chance pass him  by, Fritz got back up to take the set with   a decisive victory, earning his first  break of the afternoon shortly after. Zverev advanced to the US Open final in  2020, losing to Dominic Thiem of Austria,   and also advanced to the Rolland  Garros final earlier this year.

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