Fritz reflects on near upset over Alcaraz: ‘I had all I could ask for’
A confident, heavy-hitting 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 displayed his trademark resilience and escaped with a 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 victory.
Last year’s finalist dissected his three-set defeat in his post-match press conference, specifically highlighting his missed opportunities, none more notable than when he let slip two break points at 2-2 in the second set.
“My opportunity to win that match was in the second set, and I didn’t take it,” Fritz said. “I had the chances. I had all I could ask for.”
While 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 put away a backhand volley. Fritz had a chance for an overhead but he elected to let the ball bounce, a decision he later admitted, “I probably should have
sent it out of the air.”
It was a rare lapse in aggression from Fritz, who otherwise pulled no punches against the World No. 1.
“I’d say the thing that’s frustrating is most of the opportunities that come to my mind were all on me actually having the ball that I want to really attack on, just not hitting 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 was getting a lot of opportunities. That was because I was returning really well, returning really aggressive.”
Fritz is now 1-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz, with four of their meetings coming this year. The American earned his maiden win against Alcaraz at the Laver Cup in September. Reflecting on his encounters with the Spaniard, Fritz had high praise for the 22-year-old.
“He is always on offence,” Fritz said of Alcaraz. “I don’t even get a chance to get the balls to attack. Today I did, I just wasn’t clinical enough in finishing some points on some really big points.”
Up next for Fritz is Australian Alex de Minaur, whom the American is tied with at 5-5 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. It will mark their first meeting of 2025.
Asked about his knee tendinitis, Fritz acknowledged that he will continue playing through the pain.
“I start to feel it when I’m bending, loading, kind of stomping,” said the 10-time tour-level titlist. “I think a big part of why it got going today is, one, the match yesterday, and two, I was returning very explosive in this match. It’s one of the best matches I’ve returned for two sets. The pushing off, the landing when I’m returning, that puts a lot of force through it. It’s just tendinitis. It’s just gotten worse.
“You could probably line up a video and compare side by side and see that in the third set, my back leg is just not bending as much, not loading as much as it was earlier in the match.”
Watch Highlights from Alcaraz vs. Fritz in Turin: