Taylor Fritz Embraces ATP Finals Exit As He Looks Forward to Having His First “Proper Off-Season in Years”
Taylor Fritz ended his ATP Finals run with just one win in three matches in Turin.
Follow Us
Taylor Fritz (Image via X/Jose Morgado)
🔍 Explore this post with:
Taylor Fritz fell to a straight sets defeat against Alex de Minaur, marking an end to his run at the ATP Finals. The last year’s runner-up won just one match at the tournament in Jimmy Connors Group which has Carlos Alcaraz and Lorenzo Musetti. The American star will now use the off-season to prepare adequately for the 2026 season.
Fritz was the second favorite to qualify from Jimmy Connors’ group at the ATP Finals. In fact, he opened his ATP Finals campaign with a comfortable win against Musetti, beating the Italian star in straight sets. However, he failed to beat Alcaraz in the second group match as he lost to the World No.1 in three sets.
Ahead of his match against De Minaur, he needed to win just a set to qualify for the semi-finals. He had beaten the Australian three times last season and twice this year, but in the match in Turin, De Minaur looked hungrier to earn the win. He needed a straight-sets victory to earn himself a place in the knockout stage of the competition.
The first set was a nervy one between Fritz and De Minaur, as both players never broke each other. But after that, De Minaur looked in complete control of the game, breaking the 2024 US Open runner-up twice to win the match 7-6(3), 6-3, and qualify for the semi-final phase after Alcaraz beat Musetti in straight sets.
Fritz has ended his 2025 season with a 53-23 record, a pretty identical achievement to what he posted last season. During his press conference, he revealed that he embraced the ATP Finals exit with the intention of getting a good off-season. He added that it will be the first time in three or four years that he will get a good off-season:
This is the first proper off-season I’ll have in probably three or four years — three weeks or more. I’m hoping I can actually get healthy and train. One of my biggest issues this year was that anytime I wasn’t playing tournaments, I wasn’t really able to work on the things I needed to improve. I felt like I was just maintaining, taking time off, and trying to feel healthy and fresh.
Fritz will hope that his fellow compatriot Ben Shelton doesn’t upset Jannik Sinner in the last round robin match in the Bjorn Borg group. Should Shelton beat Sinner, he will overtake Fritz in the ATP rankings, finishing the year as American No.1. Fritz would certainly love to end the year as American No.1 for the fifth straight year.
Taylor Fritz hopes to improve on his game to challenge Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have been the most dominant figures in the ATP since the start of last season. Other players on tour have found it difficult to win tournaments in which the duo have featured in as they have always been the favorites. At the ATP Finals, either Alcaraz or Sinner is expected to win the title.
During the aforementioned press conference, Taylor Fritz revealed that he needs to improve to be able to compete with the two stars on tour. He added that he wants to win big tournaments and in doing so he has to beat Alcaraz and Sinner:
I need to continue to improve. That’s just what my focus is. Obviously those two are ahead of everyone. The draws are open when one of them… I mean, [in] Shanghai Carlos doesn’t play, Jannik happens to lose, something like that. But no, I wouldn’t say things are super open. If you want to win a big title, more than likely you’re going to have to beat one of ’em, maybe both of ’em.
The only time Fritz won against Alcaraz this season was at the Laver Cup, which was not a significant win as it was a team competition. He came close to beating the Spaniard at the Wimbledon Championships semi-finals, but eventually was unable to pull through. He will be looking forward to beating the World No.1 in 2026.
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)