Andy Roddick Advises Tennis World to Not Think This About Taylor Fritz After Victory over Carlos Alcaraz

World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz holds a 3-1 lead over Taylor Fritz after their Laver Cup match.

Andy Roddick Advises Tennis World to Not Think This About Taylor Fritz After Victory over Carlos Alcaraz

Taylor Fritz, Andy Roddick, Carlos Alcaraz (The Tennis Gazette, X/The Tennis Letter, Carlos Alcaraz 4K)

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Taylor Fritz became the third player after Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner to beat Carlos Alcaraz since the Monte Carlo Masters. Alcaraz won six titles after the start of the clay swing, losing in the finals of the Barcelona Open to Rune and Wimbledon to Sinner.

But in the recently concluded Laver Cup, where Team World stopped Team Europe from defending their title, the 22-year-old suffered a straight-set defeat to Fritz on the second day. That marked Fritz’s first career win after three consecutive defeats against the six-time Grand Slam champion.

Former player Andy Roddick advised the tennis world during the Served podcast that they must not get excited about Fritz’s win, and start hyping him up; given that, the conditions at the Laver Cup were far different from the ones in singles tournaments.

I always hear that if someone breaks out at World Tour Finals, like when [Grigor] Dimitrov wins it one year or [Stefanos] Tsitsipas wins 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.

That was the lone defeat Alcaraz suffered in the Laver Cup as he clinched wins in both his doubles matches, which he played with Jakub Mensik and Casper Ruud, as well as won his singles match against Francisco Cerundolo. Last year, he remained undefeated in singles and lost only a doubles match.

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.

Andy Roddick added

Both Fritz and Alcaraz are in Tokyo, where they will start their Japan Open campaign on September 25. Fritz, the winner of the Japan Open in 2022 and the second seed this year, will lock horns with Canada’s Gabriel Diallo in the second round. First seed Alcaraz will face Sebastian Baez to make his debut in the ATP 500 tournament. Alcaraz will face the 27-year-old only if they both reach the final.

Steve Flink on how Taylor Fritz defeated Carlos Alcaraz

Tennis Hall of Famer journalist Steve Flink analyzed Carlos Alcaraz‘s match against Taylor Fritz on the Court-side with Beilinson Tennis show. He said the 2024 US Open finalist not only served well but also played good tennis from the back of the court.

Taylor Fritz, Carlos Alcaraz
Taylor Fritz, Carlos Alcaraz (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

He was getting that first strike in; he had Carlos on his heels, that’s not easy to do. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him do that to Carlos for an extended period of two sets like that in any of their matches.

Fritz will be bidding to win his third title of the season at the Japan Open after two grass-court tournament victories. He defeated Alexander Zverev in the Stuttgart Open final and clinched his fourth Eastbourne International by beating compatriot Jenson Brooksby.

Alcaraz has decided to skip the China Open, which he won last year by beating Jannik Sinner. The four-time Grand Slam champion will remove Alcaraz from the No.1 ranking if he wins the China Open and defends his ATP 1000 title at the Shanghai Masters. Sinner defeated 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the final last year. Alcaraz reclaimed his ranking after beating him in the US Open final.

So far this season, the Spaniard has reached nine finals and claimed seven titles. The China Open was his last title of the 2024 season, which means he doesn’t have many points to defend.

Also read: Roger Federer Names Two Players He Hated Training Against During his Tennis Career