Alcaraz beats Fritz in Turin battle, close to year-end number one – Tennis Now
By Richard Pagliaro Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Climbing to the top of tennis requires total dedication to your career.
It takes courage and unwavering self-confidence to stay there.
Get a set, Carlos Alcaraz Provide creativity and finishing ability in the frontcourt Taylor Fritz 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 in a dazzlingly dramatic match to improve his ATP Finals record in the Jimmy Connors group to 2-0.
Alcaraz won 23 of 26 games, clearing Fritz for the fifth time in six games and was just one win away from securing the top spot at the end of the year.
If Alcaraz beats Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the final round-robin match, he will seal the year-end top spot for the second time in the past four years. Even if Musetti upsets the two-time US Open champion, Alcaraz can still achieve the year-end No. 1 ranking by reaching the Turin final. If Alex De Minaur defeats Musetti later today, the Athens finalist will be eliminated from the semi-finals.
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This is the 50th top-10 finish of Alcaraz’s career as he improves his 2025 record to 69-8 as he seeks to reach the ATP Finals Championship for the first time and regain the year-end No. 1 ranking.
“You know before a game you have to do your best,” Alcaraz told Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel. “You’re playing against the best tennis players in the world. So if you lose focus even a little bit, they usually won’t let you back into the match. That means whether it’s two hours or three hours, you have to focus on every point.
“That makes it very difficult to play against the top players. In a match, if you want to beat them, you’re really focused on playing your best tennis.”
What a perfect match🔥@carlosalcaraz Defeated Fritz with difficulty and jumped to the top of the Jimmy Connors group!#NittoATP Finals pic.twitter.com/XezuCJafhz
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 11, 2025
Think about Fritz, he had a great game today.
Ultimately, two sloppy service games – Fritz lost serve in the final game of the second set and Alcaraz broke for a 4-2 lead in the decider – cost the 2024 finalist a chance to win against the Spaniard for the second time in the past three months. In two matches in Turin, Fritz hit 27 aces and made only two double faults. Today, Fritz’s deep hitting prevented Alcaraz from using his full court skills and saved eight of 11 break points.
Alcaraz’s explosive court coverage and all-court creativity – with his low ball and a couple of spectacular backhand overhead kicks – helped him cross the finish line after a frantic two hours and 48 minutes of battle.
“Coming back, I had a chance in the first game and I broke in the second game and then I don’t know what happened because I didn’t feel good when I came back,” Alcaraz told Prakash Amritraj of Tennis Channel. “He was serving really well. So to be honest, I couldn’t return serve for a set and a half. It was hard for me to even stay there mentally.
“I’m really glad I found a way. I just [moved back] Give yourself more time to return the serve. In each point, I had to run more in the first two or three shots, but I was really happy that I had enough energy to do it to get back to scoring. And I’m great at tennis. “
The pressure has been on the servers since today’s rematch of last month’s Tokyo final, with Alcaraz winning 6-4, 6-4 to avenge his Laver Cup loss to Fritz.
Facing two break points, Fritz stepped forward and withstood nine minutes of holding serve, scoring 18 points and kicking off the game.
Then it was Alcaraz’s turn to face the flames.
The top-seeded Spaniard deftly used a lob-winning combination in the second game to save three break points. Both games take 20 minutes to play.
Alcaraz hit a backhand lob winner, breaking serve at 15 minutes and leading 2-1. In the opener against Alex De Minaur, Alcaraz let a break slip away and Fritz, knowing the Spaniard might be distracted, broke with a powerful backhand from the right back, setting up a brilliant forehand volley to equalize four games later.
Fritz, the 2024 finalist, applied pressure again in the eighth game and earned two break points. Alcaraz launched a hard attack that saved both men’s lives, then swung a spinning forehand volley and unleashed a resounding “Vamos!” causing a 4-all deadlock.
After 64 minutes of tense play, Alcaraz served and volleyed to force the first set into a decider.
Anticipation, accuracy and ace acceleration propelled Fritz through the decider.
Although Alcaraz was lobbing to great effect throughout the set, Fritz read it, knocked it down, and responded with a backhand for a mini-break and a 2-1 lead. Alcaraz made two backhand errors, and Fritz broke serve for the second time to chase the score to 5-2.
Fritz hit two consecutive aces in the counterattack, sealing the 70-minute start in a powerful way.
He is serious 😤
last year’s finalists @Taylor_Fritz97 Defeated Alcaraz 7-6 in the first set!#NittoATP Finals pic.twitter.com/tnWMFYd4e3
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 11, 2025
The 28-year-old Fritz hit 78 percent of his serves and hit two of his six aces in overtime.
Fritz hit the ball firmly in the fifth, pressing Alcaraz in the vise.
In a marathon 14-minute match, Alcaraz hit a 137-mph ace to save the second break point. Alcaraz, who had scored 13 of his 14 points at the net, hit another ace on the T-bar, closing his eyes and raising his arms to lock the score at 3-2.
Raised to another level🤯
Is there any way to save breakpoints🥵@carlosalcaraz #NittoATP Finals pic.twitter.com/Jqh291GcMD
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 11, 2025
Fritz tied the game six innings later for his second favorite of the game.
The American saved a break point in the eighth game and then leveled the match with a backhand winner in the ninth game. Fritz pinned Alcaraz on his forehand corner, but on a shot selection he might still be terrible at now, he failed to hit the open space and came right back, and Alcaraz made him pay with a forehand pass. The blow helped Alcaraz chase the score to 5-4.
When the score in the service game was 5-6, Fritz made two mistakes on Alcaraz’s return to the net and fell into a three-set point hole.
On the second set point, Alcaraz made consecutive forehand passes, handcuffing Fritz, and scored the only break of serve in the second set, leading 7-5. After two hours and ten minutes of intense fighting, Alcaraz celebrated by throwing an uppercut into the air to send the match to the final – the first three-set match of the tournament.
A break in the final game of the second set gave Alcaraz the advantage of serving first in the deciding set.
In the sixth game, Fritz hit his second double fault of the day and was bewildered when he faced a triple break point on a deep return ball that danced near his shoelaces. On the second break point, Alcaraz drove straight into the bottom corner, forcing his opponent to run back and get a key break, leading 4-2. Alcaraz confirmed the break at 15 minutes and the score was 5-2.
Fritz fought hard in the game, scoring three match points in a row, and then hit a beautiful half-volley shot from the baseline to help him tie the score at 3-5.
Alcaraz added three more match points with two forehand winners and when Fritz missed a backhand, the skirmish ended with 12 minutes left on three hours.
A jubilant Alcaraz raised his arms toward his box, and coaches Juan Carlos Ferrero and Samuel Lopez jumped from their seats and shook their fists at him.
