Follow us on Google Discover Taylor Fritz finally ended his losing streak against Novak Djokovic after emerging victorious in their match at the Six Kings Slam.
Djokovic retired against Fritz while trailing 6-7(4-7), having struggled during the opening set of their third place playoff in Riyadh.
Fritz entered the match with a 0-11 win-loss record against Djokovic, although their latest clash will not count towards their head-to-head.
The Six Kings Slam is not affiliated with the ATP Tour, which continues this week in Almaty, Stockholm and Brussels.
Fritz plays next at the Swiss Indoors Basel, while he aims to then continue his season with a place at the ATP Finals in Turin next month.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesTaylor Fritz shares what it is like to play against Novak Djokovic
First, however, he will celebrate a win over 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, having described their encounter as “brutal” when speaking on court afterwards.
The American said: “Yeah that was really physical. You know what happens is you get into those really long games and the balls start to just wear out and get so huge to the point where it’s so hard to get a free point on the serve, hit a winner, so then it just, it’s almost like playing the long points, playing the long games, it makes everything just slower, longer.
“So yeah, it’s just such a tough set. And at the end of it, like I said, conditions just got so slow. We’re just playing long rallies, back to back to back, just having to fight for every point. So it’s brutal.”
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And when asked to share how it really feels to play against Djokovic, he explained: “Yeah it’s amazing. It’s crazy all these guys that I grew up watching just dominate tennis, and now I get the chance to play with them.
“It’s not like this is I guess anything new. Novak’s been beating me for a very long time. It’s been probably like at least the last eight years. So it’s always a pleasure to share the court with the best players of all time.”
YearWinnerTournamentRoundSurfaceScore2025Novak DjokovicUS OpenQuarterfinalOutdoor Hard63 75 36 642024Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 ShanghaiSemifinalOutdoor Hard64 76(6)2024Novak DjokovicAustralian OpenQuarterfinalOutdoor Hard76(3) 46 62 632023Novak DjokovicUS OpenQuarterfinalOutdoor Hard61 64 642023Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 CincinnatiQuarterfinalOutdoor Hard60 642022Novak DjokovicNitto ATP FinalsSemifinalIndoor Hard76(5) 76(6)2021Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 ParisQuarterfinalIndoor Hard64 632021Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 RomeRound of 32Outdoor Clay63 76(5)2021Novak DjokovicAustralian OpenRound of 32Outdoor Hard76(1) 64 36 46 622019Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 MadridRound of 32Outdoor Clay64 622019Novak DjokovicATP Masters 1000 Monte-CarloRound of 16Outdoor Clay63 60Novak Djokovic v Taylor Fritz head-to-head recordTaylor Fritz confirms his next tournaments after the Six Kings Slam concludes
Even though their latest match was not played on the ATP Tour, Fritz can take great confidence from finally getting over the line against his nemesis.
They could be reunited at the ATP Finals, for which Djokovic has just joined Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in qualifying.
The duo also met in the final of the Six Kings Slam for the second successive year, with the same outcome emerging as Sinner lifted the trophy.
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Meanwhile, sharing his plans for the rest of 2025, Fritz said: “Just finish the year strong. It’s been a really long year, so it’s never easy this late into the season to feel fresh, or feel healthy, ready to play all the time.
“But final push. I’ve got just a couple more weeks. I want to finish the year strong, play some good tennis in Basel, Paris, World Tour Finals. And there’s still a lot of stuff I want to work on too.”
And having played against Djokovic before the final in Riyadh, he was asked who he thinks would win the final between Sinner and Alcaraz.
He replied: “Don’t do that to me, don’t do that to me. It’s really tough to say, but what I will say, the other day when I played Carlos, that felt like very, very tough. I definitely want to see what Sinner does to deal with that, because I didn’t have the answers.”
As Fritz alluded to, Alcaraz defeated him earlier in the tournament in their semifinal, while Sinner edged past Djokovic.