Taylor Fritz recalls near-frustration with Carlos Alcaraz: ‘I had everything I could ask for’ | ATP Tour

Nitto ATP Finals

Fritz recalls feeling near-dejection for Alcaraz: “I already had everything I could ask for”

America regrets missed opportunity

November 11, 2025

Confident, hard-hitting Taylor Fritz maintained momentum for much of the first 90 minutes against Carlos Alcaraz in Tuesday’s Nitto ATP Finals. But the Spaniard showed his trademark resilience and prevailed 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3.

Last year’s finalist dissected his three-set defeat at the post-match press conference, highlighting in particular his missed opportunities, most notably when he conceded 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 have a chance. I have everything I could ask for.”

While holding on to the first break point of the second set, Fritz had the upper hand in a thrilling 19-shot standoff, but Alcaraz quickly reversed the situation and advanced to hit a backhand volley. Fritz had an overhead chance but opted to let the ball bounce, a decision he later admitted, “I probably should have passed the ball out of the air.”

It was a rare offensive lapse from Fritz, who otherwise had no reservations against the world’s No. 1 puncher.

“I would say the frustrating thing is that most of the opportunities I thought of were on pitches that I really wanted to attack and just didn’t hit the ball well enough,” said Fritz, 1-1 in the Jimmy Connors division.

“I felt like I had a lot of chances in the first two sets of this match. That’s because I counterattacked very well and I was very aggressive in my counterattacks.”

Fritz currently has a 1-5 record in the Lexus ATP head-to-head series with Alcaraz, and they will meet four times this year. The Americans defeated Alcaraz for the first time at the Laver Cup in September. Looking back on his encounter with the Spaniard, Fritz spoke highly of the 22-year-old player.

“He’s always on offense,” Fritz said of Alcaraz. “I didn’t even have a chance to get the ball and attack. Today I did, I just wasn’t calm enough to score some points in some really important spots.”

Fritz’s next opponent is Australian Alex De Minaur, with whom the American tied 5-5 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head Series. This will be their first meeting of 2025.

When asked about his knee tendonitis, Fritz admitted he will continue to play through the injury.

“As I flexed, loaded, stomped a little bit, I started to feel it,” said the 10-time Tour-level champion. “I think a big reason why this happened today is, one, yesterday’s match, and two, I came back really explosive in this match. It was one of the best sets I’ve had coming back in two sets. When I came back, pushed off, landed, it gave me a lot of strength. It was just tendonitis. It got worse.

“You could probably line up a video and compare it side by side and you’d see that in the third set, I wasn’t bending my back leg as much and the load wasn’t as much as it was earlier in the match.”

Watch highlights from Torino Alcaraz vs. Fritz: