The Spaniard came back against the American after nearly three hours of great tennis to secure his second win in two matches at the ATP Finals, but he’s not yet mathematically guaranteed a spot in the semifinals. If he beats Musetti on the final day, he’ll finish 2025 at the top of the rankings
The consistency (but also the quality) of Taylor Fritz against the unstoppable flair that accompanies Carlos Alcaraz’s boundless talent: this could be the summary—which, incidentally, is somewhat typical of many matches played by the Spaniard—of a match closed out by Carlos in the third set, 6-7, 7-5, 6-3. But the world No. 1 took two hours and 47 minutes to overcome his opponent.
The match was a battle from the start, with breaks and counterbreaks in the opening games, poor choices by Alcaraz—including a few ill-fated drop shots—brilliant backhands followed by glaring errors, delicate volleys, and various misjudgments. On the American’s side, however, there was a great deal of solidity, the ability to defend with straightforward tennis, and a refusal to ever stop believing. He has always been convinced he can win a Grand Slam, and in every single match he demonstrates his character and a total refusal to get discouraged. As for Carlitos, his tendency to have lapses in concentration—already evident the day before yesterday against De Minaur—is well known, and these lapses condemn him to wasting energy and risking heavy defeats. And indeed, the first set goes to the American: Carlitos fights his way to a tiebreak, which Fritz wins 7-2 with a double mini-break and two aces to close it out. It’s back to square one for the (provisional) world No. 1, who is also playing for the chance to remain there at the end of the year in this match.
key points— The battle continues in the second set: in the fifth game, Alcaraz faces his first risks: first he misses a pointless drop shot, then he takes a big forehand from Fritz, and finally closes out the point with a spectacular high volley, but the American puts on a show as well. It’s a key moment, and Alcaraz stays ahead 3-2, but it took 22 points to close it out. Then come moments of respite for both players, with perfect service games, and they stay on serve, even though with the first set in the American’s pocket, it’s always Carlitos who takes the bigger risks. You could say that Fritz’s chance at success passed him by in the ninth game of the second set, when he misjudged an open court and allowed the Spaniard to go up 5-4, despite the many difficulties he faced.
resilience— But Fritz doesn’t give up; he falls to the ground—fortunately without injury—and keeps fighting. 6-5, 0-40: Fritz is tired yet refuses to quit; he tries to defend but makes too many errors, and Carlos secures the break at the last moment to force a third set. The decisive set also starts evenly, but Fritz’s strength and stamina have waned (was it the slip? Perhaps more so the thought of that missed opportunity). And the sigh of relief for Alcaraz and his fans comes in the sixth game, when a now-declining Fritz gets broken—or rather, inflicts a self-break upon himself with a forehand error and a painful double fault. At that point, it was almost over for Carlitos: he took a 5-2 lead, squandered a match point on Fritz’s serve, delighted the crowd with a veronica, but Fritz fought back to make it 5-3. This time, the Spanish talent didn’t miss his chance: in the final game, a barrage of volleys and no more wasted match points. Tired but happy (127 points to 115), Carlitos has his sights set on the semifinals: but his spot will only be secured if De Minaur beats Musetti tonight. Otherwise, everything will be postponed to the final day, against the Italian himself.
