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The fatigue growth of three-dimensional fretting cracks was investigated experimentally andnumerically. Fretting experiments were performed with spherical contacts subjected toconstant normal load, cyclic tangential load and constant or cyclic bulk stress. Crackdetection methods based on strain gauges and acoustic emission measurements were adaptedto the fretting experiment and allowed for estimation of the time for crack initiation andpropagation. Fatigue crack growth was simulated numerically through a rapid few parameterscrack growth description procedure. The crack path was separately predicted based on thedirection of the largest principal value of the range stress tensor. The numerically computedfatigue lives and crack paths were compared to the experimental outcomes.