THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 11, 2025

Taylor Fritz

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/T. Fritz

6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Taylor, great match out there, but obviously not the result you were looking for. Give us your thoughts.

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, I had my chances, for sure. I definitely feel like good looks, good looks on those points in the tiebreaker to force a fifth. Obviously in hindsight I can say all the things I should have done on those points, but realistically I should have been able to get one of them, force a fifth. Whatever happens in the fifth, happens in the fifth.

But I thought that I played a good match. A couple hiccups first game of the match and then in the third set. The second and the fourth, I definitely did exactly what I set out to do and play how I wanted to play.

I thought Carlos served exceptionally well today as well.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Do you think there's anything specifically tactically you could have changed to help the outcome of the match?

TAYLOR FRITZ: The thing is, a lot of the things that I would have changed I think would have only helped me for a point or two, and then I think Carlos would have just made an adjustment, and I don't think it would have been a long-term answer.

I think I was not returning his first serve well at all. Part of that is because I thought he served really well, like very well. Part of that is also because I know that I can't just, like, make the return 'cause he'll just drill the ball open court, and I'll lose the point.

Part of me not returning great is how well he's serving and then how I know that I need to hit a good return if I want to be able to win the point. There's not much point in me blocking a return back and just losing the point anyway.

I could have maybe, like, chipped a bit. I think, like I said, that only works for a point or two, and then he starts serve and volleying me. He's incredibly comfortable doing that.

I think the long-term thing I could have done was just do what I was doing, but just return better and return more aggressively. I think that's something I need to get a lot better at, is returning aggressively.

I return to put balls in the court, which is great for me against most people because I can neutralize points, but against maybe him and Jannik might be the only guys, if the return isn't good, their plus-one is very dangerous.

Q. Obviously Carlos has this crazy good five-set record. Presumably the locker room is very aware of that.

TAYLOR FRITZ: I didn't know about that. I guess, I mean, if I would have won one of those points, it would have been good that I didn't know about that (smiling).

Q. After having the set point in the fourth set, leaving court, do you feel closer to getting over the hurdle of Alcaraz and Sinner, or do you feel further in some ways after that match?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, here's how I look at it:

The first set I came out and I just played a bad first game and put myself down a break instantly. Unfortunately, that's what I've done the last two times I played Carlos, came out and instantly put myself down a break. That's never good.

Like I said, I've watched Carlos plenty. For me, I feel like that's the best I've seen him serve. Tough. I'm not going to get a look to break him back. First set, done. Second set, did exactly what I wanted to do. Fourth set, did exactly what I wanted to do.

The two sets that I played to the level that I want to be playing at, I'm right there. Yeah, like I said, played really well in the second and the fourth. Lost the fourth, but it's there. I just need to avoid playing the times where the level dips a bit and then he can grab a break and just get ahead of me.

I think, to be fair, on grass, even though he's such an incredible grass court player, probably fast is my best opportunity with Carlos. Once the court gets slow to where I can't hurt him, it's going to be really tough because, regardless of how slow the court is, I think he's always going to be able to hurt me. I need the court fast enough to where at least I can level the field by being able to hurt him.

I think when I played him at Laver Cup, I think that was a big issue because the court was incredibly slow. I felt like I could not get him out of position. He has so much raw power, and I don't move like he does, so he can hurt me.

To be honest, I think faster is good for me. Given the conditions today, I mean, I'm a point away from forcing a fifth. Anything can happen if I serve well.

Q. Ben Shelton was in here after his match against Jannik a couple days ago saying that it's almost like playing somebody who is playing at two times speed at times. You've now faced them both in big Grand Slam matches in the last year. Can you compare the experiences? Is one more difficult than the other for you?

TAYLOR FRITZ: I'd say for me, it's just different. It's different conditions. I'd say I felt pretty comfortable from the ground with Jannik when we played in Turin. I think Jannik typically has a bigger serve, so it's tougher to get in on his return games.

For me, from the ground I think I had more success rallying and playing with Jannik because he plays a bit flatter, and it's a little bit more predictable. He's unbelievable at what he does playing from the baseline. I think Carlos is a little more unpredictable with the slicing and the coming to net and the dropshots. Carlos has a lot of different ways to play.

I also think Carlos, one thing he does, when he whips his forehand cross, there's a lot of movement away, which is difficult. Jannik is more through the court, which for some people... Just depends who you're playing.

For me personally, I'd rather probably deal with the flat one than the ball that's working away from me. They both generate a lot of just, like, raw power. But I think for me it's a little more uncomfortable to play Carlos just because of the unpredictability of what he's going to do.

I think I play a lot off of anticipation. You never know what Carlos might just hit like a short kicker and serve and volley on like a 15-30 or something like that, which I feel like if I'm playing Jannik, that's something that's probably not going to happen.

Q. How difficult and how different is it mentally when you're playing Carlos compared to playing the other guys? Like you said, you can try something, but you know he's going to adapt. How exhausting is that?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Like I just said, he has so many different ways to win, and he's very good at making adjustments. He made a huge adjustment after the second set. I felt like the second set I was, like, I don't know what the actual stats were, but I feel like I was having a lot of success on his second serve points.

I felt like if he missed a first serve, I was applying a lot of pressure, winning a lot of points. Even though he was mixing it up quite well, I thought that's one of the things I was the happiest with what I was doing on the court.

Third set, fourth set, he randomly would be hitting 122-, 23-mile-an-hour second serves. At the same time, hitting 85-mile-an-hour short kickers. When someone is serving that much variety on a second serve, it's really tough to get on it and be aggressive. That was a great adjustment that he made in that match.

It's risky. Maybe he's going to double-fault a bit more, but he starts serving almost two first serves to me sometimes. It's a good adjustment. He has lots of different things that he can do. That's what's tough about playing him. He makes a lot of adjustments, and he has lots of different ways he can win.

A lot of times I know an adjustment I need to make, but maybe that's just not my game, so it's maybe not the best thing to do. He can kind of do a bit of everything, and he's good at it. He can always change it up to match, I guess, what you're doing.

Q. With what you did at the US Open last year, the way you've been playing lately, what is your outlook right now ahead?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Every time I play these guys, I learn a lot about what I need to do to improve and get better. Moving ahead, I just want to keep working on the things that are going to get me better, that are going to help me compete with these guys because at the end of the day, my ultimate goal is to win a slam. I think I'm going to have to at some point beat these guys to do it. It's obviously a tough ask.

Like I said, if I keep putting myself in these situations and playing them, I learn more about my game and what I need to do differently and what I need to do better to get to that level.

It's just stay healthy. That's the biggest thing. I've been dealing with a lot of injuries this year, but stay healthy and keep trying to improve, like I've been for a couple years now.

Q. Carlos has been really complimentary about his opponents. Did you exchange words at the end with him? Do you think he's one of the more humble opponents that you played against?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I get along very well with Carlos. I think Carlos is such an incredibly nice guy. I really like Carlos a lot.

Yeah, then he just said, like, Great match, good level, it was a good match.

I said, Congrats to you, too good, and best of luck moving forward.

I mean, pretty standard. He acknowledged that it was a good match. It was a pretty solid level being played. Yeah, I don't know, I think pretty standard stuff. Yeah, I mean, I will say we get along quite well.

Q. If you could narrow down Carlos' great qualities that make him so special.

TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, I'm really impressed, like I said before, his ability to win so many different ways, play so many different type of styles.

I'm incredibly impressed with how good his touch is around the net. Pressure points, big points, he's making just like serve and volley, little touch volleys, look like he's never going to miss it and like he can do it all day. It's not easy to hit those kind of delicate shots under pressure. That's really impressive.

Then, I don't know, I mean, he just does everything so well. I think for a long time people said his serve was one of the weaker parts of his game. There's zero weakness with his serve the way he is serving today. He's hitting all the spots. He's serving the same serve speeds as me throughout the entire match. Really impressed with how much he's improved his serve.

Q. Sinner is up two sets to none right now. Curious, having played Alcaraz, knowing Sinner, how do you see their match on Sunday?

TAYLOR FRITZ: Really tough for me to say with it just being on grass. If that is the final, then people are in for an amazing final.

Sinner is obviously super hungry after the French Open. Carlos going for the three in a row. I mean, that's obviously a lot of motivation, and it's a big deal.

Yeah, I don't know. I think they bring out the best in each other. It's going to come down to just, like, the big moments. It's so tough to call it.