How Taylor Fritz’s ‘big positive’ can help him under the bright lights of Turin | ATP Tour

Nitto ATP Finals

How Fritz’s ‘big positive’ can help him under the bright lights of Turin

The American shows off a brilliant season with the team’s rivals

November 08, 2024

Taylor Fritz produced fireworks during the 2024 season, and now, with the Nitto ATP Finals just around the corner, the American is looking for a great finish.

Having already entered the prestigious year-end event in 2022, Fritz will look to build on the lessons learned from that year’s semi-final race as he aims to become the champion of champions.

The 27-year-old’s consistently high form this year, regardless of where he’s from, has proven he’s more than capable.

“If I want to be a top player, I feel like you have to play your best tennis at the big events, so that was great,” Fritz said as he reflected on his 2024 season.

“I think that what I have done this year is my main goal is to do my best in the Slams. In previous years, I’ve probably had a good Slam result all year and some not so good.”

Fritz, the first American singles player to qualify multiple times for the Nitto ATP Finals since Andy Roddick, is seeded in the Ilie Nastase Group along with Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Alex de Minaur.

US Open finalist Fritz and 2020 Nitto ATP Finals champion Medvedev will begin singles action on Sunday in Turin.

“It is clear that it is different from other competitions because you are sure that you will play three games. “You can lose your first game and still leave the team,” said Fritz. “You lose a game, you do everything after the game as if you just won because you have to go and get ready to play another one, maybe the next day. It’s really cool in that aspect.

“And, right away, in the first game, you’re going to be playing a top player. You have to be ready from the start to go out and play at your best.”

Fritz and Medvedev’s opening match will mark their second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Obviously, Danil is not feeling well [to play] because he greatly slows down the pace of the game with the way he plays and the way he hits the ball. He doesn’t play with spin or a lot of lift that you will work with,” said Fritz. “You always feel that you have to lift and generate speed. He slows down the field a lot.”

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The 27-year-old will get another chance at local hero Sinner, spoiling Fritz’s bid for a domestic title.

“He’s been consistent,” Fritz said of Sinner. “I would say that the most impressive thing is that he did not play a bad game. He’s been really strong all year. Very aggressive from the start, it’s hard to put him in defense because most of his defense plays a lot in the corners, almost plays badly. He improved his performance a lot, a big improvement. He has been a very good server.”

Boasting a 49-21 season record, Fritz also spoke highly of De Minaur’s quality this year, saying it was no surprise to see the Aussie qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

“I played Demon in the second game of this year [at the United Cup] and personally, I thought it was one of the highest levels of tennis I’ve ever seen on the other side of the court,” concluded Fritz.