Taylor Fritz enjoyed the best year of his career in 2024, as he reached a career-high of fourth in the world.
The American star took his tennis to another level last year, as he won two ATP titles, and reached a maiden Grand Slam final.
Fritz reached the US Open final in September, losing to Jannik Sinner in straight sets, as he became the first American to reach a Major final since Andy Roddick in 2009.
The world number four was able to carry that momentum forward into the new year, as Fritz won the United Cup with Team USA.
It was the nation’s second trophy in three years at the event, as Fritz proved himself once more at the highest level.
There is no doubt that Fritz is one of the best players in men’s tennis in 2025, but one former coach has now outlined the areas he thinks the American needs to improve if he wants to become world number one.
Taylor Fritz’s junior coach, Guy Fritz says he needs to improve his return of serve if he wants to become world number one
Speaking in an interview with CoachLife, Fritz’s father and junior coach, Guy Fritz, was asked what the biggest improvement the American needs to make in order to become world number one is.
“The biggest improvement I think he can make is on the return of serve,” he said.
“When he breaks serve, he wins matches.
“He needs to step in, take that ball early, be more aggressive, especially on the forehand, run around that on the deuce side.
“When he gets those break points on those fast services, especially grass, you’ve got to go for your shot, that’s not the time to play that ball safe, and try out rally the guy all the time.”
Fritz went on to say that taking advantage of the big moments will be crucial to the American’s world number one aspirations.
“We’re talking about being number one here, we’re not talking about being ten or 20,” he said.
“If you want to beat those good guys, you’re going to have to create those opportunities and when you get them, you’ve got to hit your shots, you’ve got to go for your shots, you’ve got to make them.
“That’s how he can be number one.”
His return of serve wasn’t the only area of Fritz’s game that his dad thought could use some work, however, as he mentioned five other areas that he thinks the American needs to improve upon.
- First serve
- Second serve
- Backhand volley
- Approach shots
- Speed
“Taylor can improve his serve,” he said.
“First and second serve, I would like to see him go to the body, just a little bit more, mix it up, keep them off balance.”
Fritz’s junior coach picked up on two further shots that he needs to address sooner rather than later.
“He needs to improve his backhand volley, he comes in, the guy goes cross-court with the pass, he doesn’t make the right split step, he doesn’t have the good contact point, he doesn’t turn quite enough on that, he can improve that a lot,” he said.
“He can improve his approach shots, off of both sides, a lot of times he’ll go back behind the guy when he shouldn’t, if he just goes to the open court, the guy’s not going to run it down.”
He finished up by saying that the American world number four could make a physical improvement that would increase his chances of Major success.
“He can get a little quicker,” he said.
Can Taylor Fritz become ATP world number one in 2025?
If Fritz were able to make those improvements, his ex-coach seems to think he has a fair chance of reaching world number one, but just how far away is he from top spot?
| Rank | Name | Points | Point gap to ATP #1 |
| 1 | Jannik Sinner | 11,830 | – |
| 2 | Alexander Zverev | 7,635 | 4,195 |
| 3 | Carlos Alcaraz | 7,010 | 4,820 |
| 4 | Taylor Fritz | 5,350 | 6,480 |
| 5 | Daniil Medvedev | 5,030 | 6,800 |
| 6 | Casper Ruud | 4,210 | 7,620 |
| 7 | Novak Djokovic | 3,900 | 7,930 |
| 8 | Alex de Minaur | 3,535 | 8,295 |
| 9 | Andrey Rublev | 3,520 | 8,310 |
| 10 | Grigor Dimitrov | 3,200 | 8,630 |
Fritz currently trails Sinner by over 6,000 points, giving him a pretty steep mountain to climb in 2025.
A good first step will be to start beating the Italian, something that Fritz struggled with in 2024, as he lost all three of his meetings with Sinner.
That included two defeats at the ATP Finals, where the American came up short in both the round robin stage, and the final.
If the 27-year-old can start coming out on top in the biggest matches on the ATP Tour, then we could well see that gap begin to narrow, and maybe Fritz could finally reach world number one.
Fritz won’t want to waste any time, and will look for a big performance at the Australian Open which begins on January 12.
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