Fritz, frustrated for letting Alcaraz escape: "I made the most difficult things and failed in the easy ones"

Carlos Navarro | 11 Nov 2025 | 19.18

Fritz couldn't handle Alcaraz's challenge in Turin.

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Taylor Fritz will be tossing and turning the pillow tonight. He played two exceptional sets, having Carlos Alcaraz in his hands... but ended up conceding, fighting until the last breath in the most thrilling match we have seen so far in the tournament in Turin. A match that jeopardizes his chances of finishing as the number one in the group and forces him to give it his all on the final day.

It was a match that Taylor Fritz sums up in one word: frustration. Nothing comes closer to what he experienced this afternoon, his second match in the 2025 ATP Finals that are heating up. The American couldn't overcome a Carlos Alcaraz with more lives than a cat, and that is precisely what he lamented in the press conference: his inability to come through in many crucial points and administer the final dose of morphine to the match still haunts him, and the missed opportunities, of course, continue to swirl in his head like unwelcome ghosts.

Fritz accepts missed opportunities and dissects his loss to Alcaraz, also mentioning physical issues

- Analysis of his loss to Alcaraz

"I did many things well in today's match, especially in the first two sets. I managed to execute many complex aspects and perhaps let the match slip away due to some of the things that come easier to me. I was very aggressive with my return and from the baseline. In a couple of crucial points, I did just that, made very good returns, deep shots, created the ball I wanted for myself... but I didn't do enough with it, at times. Carlos has incredible defense, anticipates well, and passes brilliantly. I have to make sure to finish points with those balls."

In some of those crucial points, I was not precise or clinical with those short balls. I think the hardest part is reaching that point within the exchange because the last two times I faced him, especially in Saudi Arabia, I didn't even come close to having those balls, he was always attacking, I didn't even have a chance to go all out. Today I did, but I wasn't clinical enough in closing those crucial points."

- Regrets and what it takes to finally overcome Carlos

"Many things. I strongly believe that if I had executed my forehand better in some points, I would have been a break up in the second set and would have served to win the match. I recall a 15-30 in a game, there I missed a forehand that should have closed the point. I did the same at 30-all and on a break point, where I let a lob bounce, I should have hit the ball in the air and accepted a potential error. There were numerous opportunities. What frustrates me the most is that in most opportunities I remember, I had the ball I wanted to attack and close the point, but simply didn't strike it well."

- In the third set, tendinitis issues in his knee emerged, hindering his explosiveness

"I felt that in the first two sets, I gained many opportunities. I did so because I was returning very well, being very aggressive. Maintaining concentration on serve wasn't challenging, I don't think that's an issue. Once we reached the third set, I struggled significantly with my knee tendinitis. I have played on consecutive days, and this was a very explosive match. I found it difficult to bend my knee when serving in the final moments of the match. There wasn't much I could do about it. The first two sets, fantastic work on serve and return. I gave myself all the opportunities I could ask for in those first two sets."

- The issue with the short balls, where he missed, explained in detail and focused on Alcaraz's defensive quality

"Carlos is very quick, agile, and extremely good at anticipating. I don't think the problem was that I was targeting his forehand because those short balls I hit in both directions. He anticipates very well and is aware of where I'm going to send the ball just by seeing how I position myself to hit. There's also a bit of luck involved because he picks a side: he knows it's an easy shot, has to choose a side, and usually leans heavily to the right.

I don't think there has ever been a match where someone guessed where my shots were going so often. So, I say not everything can be luck: he moves brilliantly and anticipates greatly, I'm aware he anticipated most shots. In many of those short balls, I tried to vary the game. Sometimes I hit what seemed more obvious; other times, what seemed less obvious. However, he was almost always there. It was one of the most frustrating parts of the match, not being clinical or finishing with the simplest shot."

- Frustration and physical issues, a fatal element in conceding in the third set

"There was an element of frustration, of course, because I felt I had opportunities. My knee was also destroyed, there was nothing more to be done. I've been dealing with this all year, I've had tendinitis all season. It didn't start being a problem until the grass court swing, until then I only felt the pain when cooling down, but in matches never; it started becoming an issue during them. Since then, it's been challenging for me to play on consecutive days without that pain appearing. If I play a tough match, I feel I need a day for the pain to calm down. Tokyo was the only time this year, for whatever reason, that I was able to play on consecutive days pain-free.

I started feeling it towards the end of the first set, but it didn't affect me until the third. There came a point where it was very difficult for me to bend my back leg on the serve, hit the backhand, load the leg for a forehand openstance. That lack of explosiveness sensation, I suffered greatly from it."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Fritz, frustrado por dejar escapar a Alcaraz: "Hice las cosas más difíciles y fallé en las fáciles"