What happened the last time Alexander Zverev & Taylor Fritz met at a Grand Slam? All you need to know about post-match controversy that surrounded duo ahead of US Open battle

The 2024 US Open 2024 has a thrilling encounter ahead as Alexander Zverev is set to face home favorite Taylor Fritz for a place in the semifinals. The duo has developed an intense rivalry following their fourth-round clash at Wimbledon this year.

Fritz and Zverev met in the fourth round at SW19 and played out a five-set thriller. The American lost the first two sets before mounting a memorable comeback to beat the German star 4–6, 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–6(3), 6–3. Zverev had a long verbal exchange with Fritz at the net after the end of the game, which raised a few eyebrows. Fritz was quick to end any speculation, suggesting it was nothing and he was just wishing Zverev good luck but the German later revealed what he said during his post-match press conference.

Zverev said that while Fritz and his team were "extremely respectful", he found some people in the latter's box were "over the top" while cheering on the American.

"His (Fritz's) team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physio, also his second coach, they're extremely respectful. I think there's some other people that maybe are in the box that are not maybe from the tennis world, that are not maybe from particularly watching every single match. They were a bit over the top," Zverev said.

Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle who was seen cheering her boyfriend on throughout the match, posted a few stories on her Instagram account and captioned it 'Cheer loud ladies' and 'When ur man wins 4 the girls'. Both these Instagram stories seemingly referred to Zverev's court case over alleged physical violence against his ex-girlfriend. The case was later settled in court although Zverev was not declared innocent.

Riddle soon deleted her stories and issued an apology for her reaction. The American influencer claimed that the media had blown her stories out of proportion and she did not want to get involved in off-court controversies. She also thanked the Wimbledon crowd for their support throughout the match.

"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 & there's no bad blood between anyone," Morgan Riddle posted on her Instagram story.

Now, the duo are set to renew their rivalry at the quarterfinal of the US Open with Morgan Riddle set to support her boyfriend Taylor Ftitz from the stands again.

Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev's route to US Open 2024 QF

Taylor Fritz has dominated his way into the US Open quarterfinals. The World No. 12 has dropped just one set en route to the last eight of the competition. He defeated Ugo Carabelli in the first round before knocking out Matteo Berrettini and Francisco Comesana in the next two rounds.

The American's toughest assignment came against an inspired Casper Ruud in the fourth round. He lost the first set but mounted a comeback to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a clash with Alexander Zverev in the next round.

Compared to Fritz, Zverev has had a tougher run of matches on his way to the last eight. The German has lost a set in three of his four matches, while only managing a straight-sets victory once. In his fourth-round clash, he lost the first set against American Brandon Nakashima but bounced back quickly to register a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win.