Taylor Fritz won his first ATP Finals match of 2025 in some style, thrashing Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets.
Musetti was told by Novak Djokovic that he’d qualify for the ATP Finals after losing to him in the ATP 250 event in Athens and missing out on automatic qualification.
Fritz has been happy with the conditions during practice in Turin, and he took that form with him to his opening match and made light work of Musetti.
Tim Henman heaped praise on Fritz after his match, and it would appear that the American was satisfied with his own performance too.
What Taylor Fritz did to beat Lorenzo Musetti
Fritz knows today’s test with Carlos Alcaraz will be tough but he has showcased this year that he’s capable of beating the Spaniard if he brings his best game.
After beating Musetti, Fritz was quizzed on what he did that was so impressive and the game plan that he utilised with aplomb to get over the line against the Italian player.
The 28-year-old said on his serve: “I think it’s more probably the quality of the serve. For me, I’m serving for, like, lines. I’m never serving to kind of put it in. I’d rather miss my serve than make it and it not be very good. I think I did a good job mixing up the serve. Yeah, I feel like I’m hitting the spots pretty well on the serve.
“To be honest, I think one of the things he’s always done really well against me is neutralise my first serve. I think he’s very good at chipping the return deep and putting it in positions where it’s tough for me to attack.
“I wouldn’t say it’s his return because I think that’s been one of the things that’s made it tough for me to play him in the past, is how well he can typically return my first serve if the spot is not very good.”
Fritz often serves remarkably well and after this easy win over Musetti, he’s shared what his opponent did that actually made the win so comfortable.
He said: “Okay, let me explain (smiling).
“The speed only really matters to where we’re standing to return. He is standing further back to return, so there’s no reason for me to hit a bigger second serve because he’s five feet behind the baseline. I’m not going to rush him with a second. Why would you take the extra risk? I don’t think when he’s that far back, he’s going to do anything with it. I feel fine to hit a much softer second.
“If we separate any of the points where he’s actually returning much closer, I’m hitting a much bigger second serve. Same thing the other way around: I’m returning his serve close, so he’s trying to serve very aggressively to take my time away. If I were to go back, he would probably kick his second serve and hit it a lot softer, so…”
Fritz can cause a shock at the ATP Finals
The American player is a solid ambassador for elite-level tennis and when others whinge about the schedule, Fritz merely sucks it up and turns up to play.
Winning a Grand Slam has so far escaped the grasp of Fritz, but in the last two years, he has been knocking more firmly on the door, reaching a final and a semifinal.
After an early exit at the Paris Masters, Fritz should arrive in Turin well rested after an unexpected period of recuperation and that could help him considerably here.
Naturally, he will have to overcome Alcaraz and most likely Jannik Sinner if he’s to get his hands on the title, but with the quality he possesses, there is no reason why he can’t do just that.
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