Taylor Fritz had a career-best year in 2024, reaching his first Grand Slam final, and winning two tour-level titles.
Fritz has enjoyed a stunning season on the ATP Tour, as he is set to finish the year as world number four, the highest year-end ranking by an American since James Blake in 2006.
The American won two titles this year, as Fritz won at Delray Beach, before taking home his third title at Eastbourne.
After some mixed form in the middle part of the season, Fritz reached the US Open final, losing to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
It was the first Major final of his career and the first by an American male since Andy Roddick at Wimbledon in 2009.
He followed up his performance at Flushing Meadows, by impressing in Turin, as Fritz lost in the final of the ATP Finals, again to Sinner.
A great year for the American, who his coach believes has recently adopted a mindset that others would do well to copy.
Taylor Fritz’s coach Paul Annacone reveals the big mistake most tennis players are making
Speaking ahead of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Fritz’s coach Paul Annacone gave his thoughts on the American’s season.
“It’s been an amazing year for Taylor [Fritz], to finish four in the world is pretty spectacular, and the way to do it, especially playing so well with the top eight players in the world,” he said.
“Getting to the ATP Finals, and having two huge wins over [Daniil] Medvedev, and [Alexander] Zverev to get there, let alone Alex de Minaur. It’s just an amazing cap to a wonderful year of a lot of hard work.”
Annacone went on to explain the change he has noticed in Fritz in recent times.
“Taylor’s done a lot of hard work for a long period of time and when you listen to him talk now, you can hear that it’s a different Taylor Fritz, and what I mean by that is that he understands so much more about himself and his game,” he said.
“When he’s in these moments he actually believes he’s got a really good chance, and he doesn’t have to play better than he is, and he knows that he can just do what he does and he’ll give himself opportunities.”
The American believes that Fritz’s approach is a mature one, and one that other players on the ATP Tour are making a mistake by ignoring.
“I think people look at it the wrong way, players too, they look at their ceiling,” Annacone said.
“That’s really not what I look at for progression.
“I look at how well your average level improves.
“Taylor’s winning a lot of matches playing average tennis for him, before that would happen and I think it would frustrate him, because his level wasn’t high enough.
“Now he’s realizing, I can get through these matches, play average tennis for me, give myself a chance to move further along in the week, and then I’ll play better in the big matches, and that’s kind of what he’s done.”
Taylor Fritz’s breakthrough against the ATP top ten in 2024
Fritz has improved significantly in 2024, and his performances against the best players in the world have been a huge part of that.
The American scored a mouth-watering 11 top-ten wins this year, five more than his previous best which came in 2022.
| Rank | Name | Tournament | Score |
| 7 | Stefanos Tsitsipas | Australian Open – 4R | 7-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 |
| 9 | Hubert Hurkacz | Madrid Open – 4R | 7-6, 6-4 |
| 10 | Grigor Dimitrov | Italian Open – 4R | 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 |
| 4 | Alexander Zverev | Wimbledon – 4R | 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 |
| 8 | Casper Ruud | US Open – 4R | 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 |
| 4 | Alexander Zverev | US Open – QF | 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 |
| 2 | Alexander Zverev | Laver Cup – RR | 6-4, 7-5 |
| 4 | Daniil Medvedev | ATP Finals – RR | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 9 | Alex de Minaur | ATP Finals – RR | 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2 | Alexander Zverev | ATP Finals – SF | 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 |
| 9 | Alex de Minaur | Davis Cup – QF | 6-3, 6-4 |
Fritz will be delighted with his performances against the world’s top ten this year, especially his four victories over now world number two Alexander Zverev.
He will however be looking to achieve more success against the two Grand Slam champions of 2024 in the future, suffering defeat to Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the year, and falling three times to Sinner at the US Open and ATP Finals.
It could well be a natural progression for the American, who will be a big favorite to bring home some serious silverware in the new year.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
