Quote of the Day: Even though “this one hurt,” Taylor Fritz proud of Wimbledon breakthrough

WATCH: Rafael Nadal defeats Taylor Fritz in a five-set thriller in the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinals

At Wimbledon, the line between triumph and disaster is razor thin. For Taylor Fritz, the difference was a handful of points across nearly four and a half hours against Rafael Nadal on Centre Court.

The 24-year-old American was contesting his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, and looking to keep the wins coming amid a banner fortnight for his country’s tennis stars. There were seemingly endless signs pointing in Fritz’s favor: Nadal was struggling to cope with an abdominal injury—the Spaniard said the pain was so bad it had him thinking about quitting the match. And Fritz already got a confidence-boosting win over Nadal in similar conditions, back in the Indian Wells final when he played through a cracked rib.

But he came up just short, three points away from victory during parts of the fourth and fifth sets as Nadal came back to secure a 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4) win.

Q. You said this is probably the most difficult defeat of your life. What's number two? What are you comparing this to?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I can't. That's the thing. I don't know.

I feel confident saying this is number one because literally after the match was over, I was sitting there and I felt like crying, like I wanted to cry. I've never felt like that ever after a loss. I've never felt like I could cry after a loss.

Just that's telling enough to know that this one hurt more than any other one's hurt before.

Although the American was understandably still heartbroken so soon after his defeat, Fritz still has plenty to be proud of during his career breakthrough run at Wimbledon. He didn’t drop a set until the quarterfinals, and came in as a pre-tournament favorite after winning his second Eastbourne title in three years in the build-up.

“I mean, taking a step back, it's nice. I made my first quarterfinal,” Fritz reflected in his post-match press conference. “I'm moving in the right direction… It's a great achievement, I'm really happy.

“I really, really wanted this match. So it's tough right now to look at the bright side of things because I really, really wanted this one.”