Fritz: "It is great to play with someone who is better than you, that's where you see what you need to improve"

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There are few things to reproach Taylor Fritz for in his performance at the Nitto ATP Finals 2024. The American defeated all his opponents except one, the best of all. After losing to Jannik Sinner in the group stage, the Italian crossed paths with him again in the final, showing him the current gap that still exists between them. Of course, it hurts to let an opportunity like this slip away, but the North American prefers to focus on the positives and is already thinking about what awaits him next week in Malaga. These were his statements before leaving Turin and heading to the Davis Cup.

Satisfied with his tournament

“It has been a very good week for me. Obviously, it's a great way to end the season, although I am very sad because I came here with a lot of confidence. I still have the Davis Cup next week, but I feel that looking ahead to 2025, I have a very clear idea of the things I need to improve, although I currently feel that I am playing very well. I feel that I have raised my level, that I have much more confidence in my game”.

What needs improvement in 2025?

“There are some aspects related to my physical condition, I need to be a step more explosive, faster. If I can get a little quicker, it will help me a lot for serving and returning. If I position myself in a better place to make a break, it will surely lead to a great improvement. This is something I have already done, but I still have room for improvement. Today when the balls started wearing out, I struggled a lot to generate power with my backhand, that allowed him to control the games better. With new balls, I didn't have that problem, I stayed better in the points. Then the balls got bigger and everything slowed down, I lost control of the points, this is something I need to work on. These are the first things that come to mind right away”.

New World No. 4

“I don't think much about the position I am in, this week I only focused on my game and the confidence I had. In 2023, when I won Delray Beach before defending my title in Indian Wells, I reached #5 in the world and that was crazy, I thought a lot about the number of players better than me who were behind me (laughs). At that moment, I was No. 5 but I didn't really feel like one. Now I am classified where I think I should be, I belong in this place, the feeling is different. It has been a great year, that gives me a lot of confidence. The goal I set at the beginning of the season was to finish in the top 5, I really wanted that”.

The challenge of facing Sinner

“He is playing very well, from the baseline, it was the same as in the match we had in the group stage. Today I was impressed by how he served, all to the line, he even took a lot of risks with the second serve. That was one of his main goals, not allowing me to come up attacking his second serve. He did a great job, was very aggressive, did not make double faults despite taking more risks, all of this impressed me. Today the most I had was maybe a 30-30, because at that moment he would hit an ace”.

A final effort

“I will go to the Davis Cup, the idea is that I will train tomorrow, although that probably won't happen, I need a day off (laughs). I would love to go home, but we have a strong team and we want to give our best effort, try to win the title. I can't do this to the guys, I have to go out there and give it my all, so I'll be there tomorrow. After these matches with Jannik, I think I can draw very positive aspects, right now he is the best in the world and playing the best. It's great to play against someone who is better than you, that's where you see the things you need to improve by exposing the weaker aspects of your game”.

Rafa Nadal's legacy

“I've seen many left-handed players try to play exactly like him. If I were left-handed, I would have also tried, so it's better that I'm not, because it wouldn't have been good to try it (laughs). In terms of people trying to emulate his game, I feel that most left-handers look at Rafa as the great reference of what they should do. Even when I was a child, I was on the court pretending I was playing Roland Garros, doing all his things. He has had a tremendous impact on my entire generation, because we all grew up watching him and Roger”.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Fritz: “Es genial jugar con alguien que es mejor que tú, ahí es donde ves lo que necesitas mejorar”