Alcaraz defeats Fritz and will once again fight for the biggest prize on the circuit

Carlos Alcaraz started this Thursday afternoon with a great performance against Taylor Fritz, yet another chapter in their particular face-off. The Spaniard confirmed that the break did him wonders, advancing to the final of this second edition of the Six Kings Slam.

At the beginning, it is always challenging to get into the game when you know that behind it all, the greatest motivation is money. There’s no ranking, no points: just a booty of six million for the champion. Then, once the party starts, one forgets all this and quickly enjoys its protagonists. In this case, Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. Both were competing in the first semifinal of this Six Kings Slam 2025, a match repeated in recent months, although the balance usually tilts on the same side. Alcaraz didn’t fail in Riyadh, swiftly winning (6-4, 6-2) to continue his journey in the tournament.

Above the score itself, what mattered was how Alcaraz would perform after some time off the courts. After winning in Tokyo, precisely against Fritz in the final, his decision to skip the Shanghai Masters was related to questions about his ankle, much in need of rest. It seems that a few free days have done him wonders, hence why this afternoon we saw Carlos at a remarkable level of form and agility, enough to block any hint of threat from his opponent. Only a few games were needed to see the first break and make everyone feel at home.

By feeling at home, I mean knowing what was going to happen, understanding perfectly that if Alcaraz continued to return as he usually did, it wouldn’t matter much if Taylor served at 200km/h. Unless he did it all the time, with very high percentages, but that wasn’t the case. The American recently outperformed the Spaniard at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, but this time he didn’t show as much fierceness as that day. Money can be a motivation, of course, but these people have not been worried about that for a long time.

– Alcaraz awaits his opponent in the final of the Six Kings Slam

The feeling that Fritz wasn’t here today to beat the World No. 1 emerged in the first set, to be further emphasized in the second. Every time El Palmar took a step forward – mostly in the form of a break – California shrank, thinking more about ending this show and returning to his routine calendar. It’s a shame, considering the significant investment made to kick off this event, although the matches so far have been very disappointing, either in competitiveness or duration. But this is not Carlos’s fault, who will once again make it to the final in Riyadh, where he will cross paths with Novak Djokovic or Jannik Sinner, who will face off next.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Alcaraz tumba a Fritz y volverá a pelear por el mayor botín del circuito