Taylor Fritz celebrates with rage and he has reason. Two months after reaching the final of the US Open, the poster of another prestigious venue such as the Masters Cup reflects its name in the final episode, now waiting to know if it will be measured this Sunday (6:00 p.m., Movistar+) with Jannik Sinner, unchallenged against Casper Ruud (6-1 and 6-2). The fact is that he celebrates it because the occasion deserves it: because it is quite a final in Turin, because he has defeated an Alexander Zverev (6-3, 3-6 and 7-6(3), in 2h21) and because Little by little, it seems that he is approaching that level of privilege that he was guessed at when he burst with force into the soulless landscape of American men’s tennis, which he has been looking for and looking for for some time, but which he has not yet found.
“I would say I’m playing very well. Definitely, I would say that I am at the highest peak of my game in my career,” he answers to journalists after reducing the German, who, after using the hammer so much the previous day, against Carlos Alcaraz, has arrived a little overwhelmed at the meeting. of the semi-finals, dull at first and frenetic later, when the player from Hamburg has regained his good tone and the duel is decided in intense and fast-paced exchanges. Both have had opportunities in the third set, but the one who progresses is the North American, the first player of his nationality to land in the master final since James Blake did so in the 2006 edition, then in Shanghai. A lot has happened since then, and even more since the last American crowned: a certain Pete Sampras in 1999.
A quick look at the history shows that there are no champions of his country in this century and that Andre Agassi was defeated in the finals of 2000 and 2003, for Spring Kuerten and Roger Federer. Then it was Blake’s turn, but he also ran into the Swiss. Now Fritz is running, a 27-year-old tennis player who has been growing in recent times and who virtually already looks the best. ranking of his career, fourth in the world, in addition to having stood out recently in New York and now signing a worthy victory against Zverev, who had not lost a match until now nor had he given up a single set. The Californian, however, seems to have gotten the hang of it and the victory may surprise, but perhaps not so much. There were some other clues.
Fritz has beaten the German in four of the five games they have played this season, in the last four; He got rid of Wimbledon and the US Open, and prevailed in the Laver Cup. A decisive fact also stands out in this last resolution: the American has been superior in eight of the ten tiebreaks that the two have settled. The dominance against number two, 7-5 in head-to-head matches, does not seem coincidental. The key, he says, is in a significant touch-up in the hitting with his drive.
Tweaks on the right
“I don’t want to reveal what I’ve been working on because it would give an idea of what makes me uncomfortable, and maybe they hadn’t realized…” he jokes. “But the answer is that I am hitting my forehand much better than before. It has been a great change. It’s something I’ve recently started working on; “I noticed that it bothered me more in the matches against the best players, so I have been working on it and now I see great improvements,” says the finalist, champion this year of two minor tournaments (Delary Beach and Eastbourne), but increasingly incisive. on the biggest stages and against the biggest rivals. Zverev knows it well. With this there are five finals for him this year, the same as Alcaraz.
“I think I have shown why I am the best American in these last two years, ups and downs included. I let my results speak; “If that’s not enough for people, there’s little I can do… Some prefer people with a more striking game,” he recently conceded, knowing that he doesn’t have much pull, despite being ahead of all his compatriots who appear in the top-100: Tommy Paul (12º), Frances Tiafoe (18º), Ben Shelton (21º), Sebastian Korda (23º), Brandon Nakashima (37º), Alex Michelsen (41º), Marcos Giron (47º) and Aleksandar Kovacevic (92º).
Now, once again, Fritz faces another major test, that of Sinner. The undisputed number one gave a good account of Ruud this Saturday and, without having given up a single round on the track, he will have another opportunity after the final lost a year ago against Novak Djokovic. The Italian adds and continues, one by one, he introduces all the rivals into his concrete mixer and dissolves them with rhythm and more rhythm, shots and more shots. The American confirmed it in the New York epilogue this summer and this Tuesday, when he won in two sets (double 6-4). In this second chapter, greater equality than in Flushing Meadows, where the local representative had no real options and surrendered in three sets, dissatisfied with his performance that day, practically translated into a monologue.
“Here the conditions are very different from those of the US Open,” Fritz clarifies. “I wasn’t consistent and let’s say that, in some ways, I just survived. I didn’t serve well, and if I don’t serve well my game fails. However, the other day I didn’t feel that way. I had my opportunities. I had options to make a break in both sets, but he took advantage of his and played the important points better than me. But it was not as unequal as in New York. He is the best in the world, so it is foreseeable that he could do something like this,” closes the North American, the only one who can prevent the Tyrolean’s first master investiture.
