Taylor Fritz is a player who has been thwarted more than most by the generational talents of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, having played them both a combined 13 times.
He has been knocked out of Grand Slams, Masters 1000s and the ATP Finals by them, mercilessly stopped from achieving his ultimate ambitions.
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And yet, he continues plugging away, desperate to do all he can to maximise his already impressive career.
He and the rest of his generation deserve great credit for remaining so dedicated, having transitioned from the Big Three’s dominance to this new Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner takeover.
And now, chatting with Bolavip, Taylor Fritz has explained who he finds the most difficult to play out of them.
Taylor Fritz compares playing Carlos Alcaraz to Jannik Sinner
However, he began by explaining what he thinks he must improve if he is to ever win a Grand Slam title.
His answer was not a simple one, although they never are with the thoughtful American. His knowledge and genuine interest in the sport of tennis are refreshing.
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Fritz claimed: “A lot of what I want to improve is transitioning, you know, coming forward to the net. Also, one thing is coming forward, but I need to be able to generate enough power with the dead balls and make a good enough approach shot to come forward.
“It’s too easy to say I just need to volley better, because the guys today are so fast and have so amazing passing shots, so it doesn’t really matter how good you volley if you don’t come in at the right time.”
Then, asked what separates him from Alcaraz and Sinner, his response was much more substantial: “It’s tough to say what separates me from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, actually. I haven’t played Jannik for a while, so it’s tough to say, because I don’t really watch a lot of tennis, to be honest. He is an amazing returner and mover and just such an elite ball striker, of course.”
“With Carlos, I feel like there are days where I can play on that level, basically like I did in Paris, where I was in a position to beat him. I was on the same level as him in that match, so it’s definitely more in terms of consistency.
“Playing like that all the time is easy to do when there is no pressure on you against such a good player, so I think it taught me to play with no pressure and an aggressive style where I feel like I have nothing to lose, and then I just need to do it all the time.”
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“I think Carlos is very uncomfortable playing due to his way of playing. He makes me more uncomfortable than Jannik, but Jannik will beat me more by playing my own game, which means that I feel comfortable against Jannik, but he still beats me doing it.”
Having beaten the Spaniard at the Laver Cup last year, he came so close to doing it again this year, before putting in arguably his best-ever performance against Alcaraz in Paris last week.
Alcaraz described it as one of the most special matches he has ever played afterwards.
Taylor Fritz’s record vs Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
That aforementioned Laver Cup victory represents Fritz’s only win over Alcaraz. He has therefore never beaten him in an actual ATP Tour-level event, losing their other seven meetings.
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Last year’s Wimbledon semi-final will particularly sting for the 29-year-old, as will the Tokyo Open final later that year.
|
OPPONENT |
MATCHES |
FRITZ WINS |
FRITZ LOSSES |
|
Carlos Alcaraz |
8 |
1 |
7 |
|
Jannik Sinner |
5 |
1 |
4 |
|
Combined |
13 |
2 |
11 |
Taylor Fritz’s record vs Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
However, it is Sinner who has dealt the harshest of blows to Fritz on two occasions.
He actually won their first-ever meeting in 2021, but has lost all four of their matches since, including the 2024 US Open final and the final of the ATP Finals.
Across the 13 combined matches he has played against this duo, Fritz has won just two, losing the other 11.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
