Something had to give in the first semifinal matchup at the Nitto ATP Finals on Saturday afternoon. Alexander Zverev was on fire going into the match, but he had been struggling in the head-to-head matchup with Taylor Fritz this season.
After two hours and 21 minutes, it was Zverev’s hot streak that came to an end while Fritz’s mastery of the matchup continued. The world No. 5 scored a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3) victory to set up a final showdown against either Jannik Sinner or Casper Ruud.
Both guys had chances in a tight third set–especially Zverev. The German led 0-40 on Fritz’s serve at 2-2 and also earned two break points at 5-5. However, Fritz came up with the goods every time and ultimately triumphed in a decisive tiebreaker.
The American has now beaten Zverev four times in a row this year, including at Wimbledon (in five sets) and the U.S. Open (in a fourth-set tiebreaker).
“I found myself in some tough spots in the third, when we both started to get on each other’s serves even more,” Fritz reflected. “When I was trying to be aggressive I didn’t feel like it was doing much. I just told myself at the end that I had to fight and be solid and tried to take care of my serve the best I could and give him absolutely nothing from the back.”
“I trust my game and I trust my level. I don’t feel anywhere near as uncomfortable in these situations anymore because I’ve been putting myself in these situations against the top guys at big events a lot lately…. I’m really confident in my game.”
Zverev’s season ends with a 69-21 record and he was on an eight-match winning streak prior to this loss.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.