The 2025 Shanghai Masters will be remembered for many years to come, but it won’t live long in the memory for Taylor Fritz.
Fritz lost his first match at the event to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard as a rigorous schedule finally caught up with the American.
Carlos Alcaraz praised Fritz after beating him at the Japan Open, where he reached the final, and a solid Shanghai Masters was anticipated for the world number four.
The tournament will be remembered, however, for qualifier Valentin Vacherot racing through the field to win, amid a host of big names, including Fritz, making early exits.
However, perhaps Fritz has been handed exactly what he needed at the most perfect of times on the Asian swing.
Taylor Fritz is one big winner of the Shanghai Masters
It might sound crazy, but it might not be such a bad thing that Fritz went out of the latest ATP 1000 event at the first hurdle.
Fritz is one of the more hardworking players on the ATP Tour and he doesn’t always know when to rest, playing in a number of competitions across the year.
Given that Fritz has qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin, the defeat last week to Mpetshi Perricard has given him a chance to get himself rested ahead of the final months of the year.
Fritz still has the Six Kings Slam, the Paris Masters and the ATP Finals to look forward to and losing early in Shanghai should at least give him ample time to get rested and recovered.
Fritz can claim major title next year
The player will have to start and take a little bit more care over his schedule and perhaps he could benefit from doing what Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz aren’t averse to doing and taking more time off.
It’s important that a player like Fritz uses the end of the year to get himself right and build some momentum going into the Australian Open, which gets underway in January.
Fritz has improved a lot over the last couple of years and the challenge now is for him to enjoy some good form, a little bit of luck and progress to the latter stages of more tournaments.
Fritz is approaching the peak of his powers and the law of averages says that at some point in the future, someone other than Alcaraz or Sinner will win a major.
After an early exit in Shanghai, his chances might have been boosted considerably, and it will be fascinating to see whether he looks rested when he does return to action this week.
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