Follow us on Google Discover Taylor Fritz’s time at the Six Kings Slam in Saudi Arabia came to an end after losing in the semifinals to Carlos Alcaraz.
After he had won his quarterfinal clash with Alexander Zverev in under an hour, Fritz lost to Alcaraz convincingly, falling to the Spaniard in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
The defeat for the American marks his second-straight loss to the world number one since beating him for the first time at the Laver Cup.
On day two of the annual competition in September, Fritz triumphed over Alcaraz to open his account in their head-to-head and earn two points for Andre Agassi-led Team World.
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Later that month, Alcaraz earned revenge against the US number one in the Japan Open final, and beat him again in Riyadh.
Reacting to his loss at the Six Kings Slam, Fritz gave an honest assessment of where his level is compared to his conqueror.
Taylor Fritz reacts to his loss to Carlos Alcaraz in Saudi Arabia
“The three previous times we played each other, it felt like the gap was closing,” said Fritz in his post-match press conference. “Tonight, it did not feel like that.”
“It didn’t feel close tonight like it has the last couple of times we played. I mean, he played very well. I think the conditions played a part in it as well.
“I felt really slow on the court today. I was having a hard time just moving, and it just felt like he could hurt me so easily.
“It just took one ball from him to kind of put me out of position, and I could never really get back in a position after that, so I definitely need to come back a lot better. I need to move a lot better.
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“You know, the previous times we’ve played, I felt like from the baseline, we could go blow for blow a bit more than I could today.
“I felt like today he was kind of beating me to the punch, and once he did, I didn’t have much of a way back into the point.
“So there are tons of things I need to improve on, but yeah, the gap between us felt a lot wider in this match than it did previously.”
Taylor Fritz is getting closer to the top two
British tennis legend Tim Henman recently said Fritz is the player most likely to close the gap on Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz, and the 28-year-old’s results certainly back his claim.
Ranked fourth in the world currently, Fritz has come on leaps and bounds in the last two years, adding four more titles to his name and making deep runs at majors.
Fritz reached a maiden Grand Slam final at the 2024 US Open, where he was overcome by Sinner in straight sets.
This year, he advanced to the semifinals of Wimbledon and was close to forcing a fifth set against Alcaraz in their final four clash at the All England Club.
Though he is not, and most likely never will be, on the same level as the ‘new two’, he is capable of beating both of them en route to a major title.
As he enters his prime years, Fritz will hope to improve his head-to-head records with Sinner and Alcaraz on the biggest stages.