Fritz had come into this match in great form after coming back from two sets down to beat fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the last 16.

On a packed Court One, and with the roof open, Fritz continued that momentum, holding off two break points in the opening game before securing the decisive break himself in the fourth game.

He broke the Italian's serve again at the start of the second set, but the athletic Musetti, with an entertaining, attacking style and a great range of shots, showed his fighting spirit by instantly getting the break back.

Musetti missed a set-point chance in the 10th game of the second set, which went to a tie-break, but the 25th seed moved 4-1 ahead and stayed in front for the rest of it.

A third set was dominated by Musetti in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, but Fritz responded with some of his best tennis of the match in the fourth to force a decider.

Giving the nature of the previous four sets, it was then a surprise to see Musetti race clear into a 5-0 advantage as he closed in on the semi-finals. Fritz slipped and may have injured his knee as the Italian moved to match point, but he was able to face one more point, which Musetti won to seal a superb victory.

Fritz has now lost all four of his Grand Slam quarter-finals after exiting at this stage at Wimbledon two years ago, the US Open last year and the Australian Open in January.

Since the Open era began in 1968, the United States have had more men's Wimbledon champions than any other nation with 15 successes, but Fritz's elimination means another year has gone by without an American winner.

Musetti's run is another great moment for Italian tennis. Jannik Sinner is the current world number one, Matteo Berrettini lost to Djokovic in the 2021 final, but there has never been an Italian men's singles champion at Wimbledon.

Could that change this year?