Taylor Fritz defeated Alex de Minaur in the ATP Finals in Turin to edge closer to a sem-final place.
Now, Fritz will head back to his hotel room and watch closely as Daniil Medvedev takes on Jannik Sinner in tonight’s offering.
If the world number one keeps things true to form, Fritz will progress in second place with Medvedev crashing out of the tournament.
If Medvedev should win in three sets, Fritz will also progress but a straight sets win for the Russian would see the American head for the airport.
Given how Sinner is playing, a straight sets win for Medvedev feels unlikely – but in professional sport, funnier things have happened.
Fritz played a great match against De Minaur earlier today and after coming from a set behind he will take a lot of heart into the last four should he make it.
Taylor Fritz shares what frustrated him during win over Alex de Minaur
So often, Fritz has been labelled as a one-trick pony with his dynamite serve to bail him out.
However, that is incredibly harsh on a supremely talented player who reached his maiden Grand Slam final in August at the US Open.
Fritz had a smile on his face as he spoke with the Tennis Channel after his match and he’s admitted that one thing frustrated him about his performance.
He said: “I think a big thing was finding my serve at the end, it just allowed me to not feel so much pressure on every service game because from the ground he was all over me, he was playing great.
“It felt like what he had to do to win a point was so much easier than what I had to do. Finding my serve helped me to stay in it and I was able to come up with some big shots, play off his mistakes really made a difference but it was very frustrating to lose so many baseline rallies, I had to persevere a lot.”
Fritz edging closer to breakout victory
Naturally, there are still things for Fritz to brush up on but he was dealt a very tough group in Turin.
Sinner is comfortably the world’s best player, Medvedev is a Grand Slam winner, whilst De Minaur was always going to make the American run. A lot!
To come through with two victories from that group is pretty impressive and it would be gutwrenching if he was to crash out.
With the US Open run to the final still clearly etched in his mind as a positive, Fritz is starting to show what he’s capable of.
At 27 he does have some time on his side and he will naturally hope to take some confidence into 2025 and collect that first major title.
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