Taylor Fritz stunned Carlos Alcaraz on his way to helping Team World claim victory over Team Europe at the Laver Cup.
Alcaraz did worry Fritz during the contest but he showed exceptional belief to come through in straight sets and claim a very big win in his career.
Fritz has now defeated Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal during his career, and perhaps he’s adopting more belief against these top players.
The American star also beat Alexander Zverev in the deciding rubber of the weekend, and before that match, Andy Roddick shared a joke with Fritz.
The 2003 US Open winner has now used his podcast as a platform to advise people on what they shouldn’t immediately start saying about the 27-year-old.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver CupAndy Roddick advises people what they shouldn’t think about Taylor Fritz
Although Fritz can take a lot of heart from wins over Alcaraz and Zverev at the same event, it’s hard to get too carried away.
The world number four has reached a final of a Grand Slam but has never gone a step further to win one, losing comprehensively to Jannik Sinner in the US Open final of 2024.
Roddick thinks the conditions at the Laver Cup are like no other on the tour and as a result, he doesn’t think people should get too carried away.
He said on the Served podcast: “I always hear that if someone breaks out at World Tour Finals, like when Dimitrov wins it one year or Tsitsipas win it one year, everyone goes this is it. This is going to change everything.
“But there’s a lot of time between now and Australia. And this court could not be more different from a hot day in Australia.
“So take it for what it’s worth, don’t take away something from Fritz, but also let’s not project him into the finals of Wimbledon based on something that happened in September.
“The variety is nice to see. Can he do it when it is quicker and the ball is up out of his zone, mixing the drop shots in when he doesn’t have the check of the ball and a muted bounce?
“I think the biggest takeaway is that Taylor Fritz is always in pursuit of more. He is using the drop shots because this surface warrants that decision-making. It had to happen because there was that check, and people had to defend the ball that was around his waist.
“If you compare his movement now to four or five years ago, it’s night and day. Has he improved his movement by 10 to 15 per cent from four or five years ago? Absolutely. No doubt.”
Jon Wertheim shares the messages he got about Taylor Fritz
It would appear as though these victories at the Laver Cup have got people associated with tennis talking.
Although nobody can take anything away from Fritz, there is a sense that he’s still got to beat Alcaraz on the grandest stages to really flex his credentials.
On the same podcast, Wertheim shared with Roddick the kind of messages he was getting following the big victories for Fritz.
He said: “It’s interesting. I got some texts from a few former players, and one of them was like, ‘This is huge for Fritz, he is going to carry this with him for a long time, he now knows he can hang’.
“And another former player from your era said, ‘Nice weekend for Fritz, but don’t read too much into it’.
“It’s interesting that even former players are trying to weigh up the significance of the win.
But Taylor Fritz, I thought the variety was pretty top-shelf tennis, even if there are no ranking points on the line.”
Fritz will now move on to China for his next event, and given the confidence he now has under his belt, few would bet against him winning another event this year.