A confident, powerful Taylor Fritz carried the momentum for much of the first 90 minutes against Carlos Alcaraz at the Nitto ATP Finals on Tuesday. But the Spaniard showed his trademark resilience and escaped with a 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Last year’s finalist dissected his three-set defeat during his post-match press conference, specifically highlighting his missed opportunities, none more noticeable than when he dropped two break points at 2-2 in the second set.
“My chance to win that match was in the second set, and I didn’t take it,” Fritz said. “I had the opportunities. I had everything I could ask for.”
Holding his first break point of the second set, Fritz had the upper hand in a thrilling 19-shot rally, but Alcaraz quickly turned the tables and moved forward to clear a backhand volley. Fritz had a chance for a bicycle kick, but he opted to let the ball bounce, a decision he later admitted: “I probably should have sent it out of the air.”
It was a rare aggressive foul from Fritz, who did nothing against the number 1 in the world.
“What’s frustrating is that most of the opportunities that come to my mind all had to do with the fact that I had the ball that I really wanted to attack on, but I didn’t hit it well enough,” said Fritz, who is 1-1 in the Jimmy Connors group.
“The first two sets of this match I felt like I had a lot of chances. That was because I returned very well and returned very aggressively.”
Fritz is now 1-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz, with four of their meetings this year. The American earned his first win against Alcaraz at the Laver Cup in September. Looking back on his encounters with the Spaniard, Fritz had high praise for the 22-year-old.
“He’s always on the offense,” Fritz said of Alcaraz. “I don’t even get a chance to attack the balls. Today I did, I just wasn’t clinical enough in finishing some points on some really big points.”
Next up for Fritz is Australian Alex de Minaur, with whom the American is 5-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. It marks their first meeting of 2025.
When asked about his patellar tendonitis, Fritz acknowledged he will continue to play through the pain.
“I’m starting to feel it when I bend, load, stomp a little bit,” said the 10-time tour-level title winner. “I think a big part of why it started today is, first of all, yesterday’s match, and second of all, I came back very explosively in this match. It’s one of the best matches I’ve played back for two sets. The push off, the landing when I come back, there’s a lot of strength involved. It’s just tendonitis. It’s just gotten worse.”
“You could probably put together a video and compare it side by side and see that in the third set my back leg doesn’t bend as much or strain as much as it did earlier in the match.”
Watch highlights of Alcaraz vs. Fritz in Turin:
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