Taylor Fritz Makes ‘Brutal’ Admission After Winning Career’s 1st Match Against Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic apologized to the crowd after giving the walkover to Taylor Fritz at the Six Kings Slam.

Taylor Fritz Makes ‘Brutal’ Admission After Winning Career’s 1st Match Against Novak Djokovic

Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, Raulgunner10)

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Novak Djokovic retired mid-match due to a leg problem after a tight first set against Taylor Fritz in the third-place match at the lucrative Six Kings Slam. The result of the match will not be added to the ATP head-to-head record, given that it’s an exhibition event.

Before this match, Fritz had never won against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, with the latter holding a perfect 11-0 head-to-head record. En route to scheduling the match against the American, Djokovic suffered a straight-set defeat to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. According to Fritz, the first set against the Serb was “brutal”, and it did not end before 75 minutes in the former’s favor 7-6(4).

So yeah, it’s just such a tough set. And at the end of it, like I said, conditions just got so slow. We’re just playing long rallies, back to back to back, just having to fight for every point. So it’s brutal.

Taylor Fritz said during his on-court interview

Fritz made his debut in the event this year and went past Alexander Zverev for the seventh consecutive time. The 27-year-old then lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.

It’s crazy all these guys that I grew up watching just dominate tennis, and now I get the chance to play with them. It’s not like this is, I guess, anything new. Novak’s been beating me for a very long time. It’s been probably like at least the last eight years.

Taylor Fritz added

In the final of the exhibition, Sinner breezed past Alcaraz to defend his title and once again took home the $6 million prize money. All other participants pocketed $1.5 million, including Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, in spite of them not even winning a set.

Novak Djokovic’s participation in Athens is in doubt

Novak Djokovic has confirmed that Paris, for the last Masters 1000 of the year, won’t be his next destination. He, in fact, is scheduled to feature in the first edition of the Hellenic Championship, an ATP 250 event in Athens. But his leg injury has raised doubts about his participation.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (via Punto de Break)

Before entering Riyadh, Djokovic was in Shanghai, where extreme heat and humidity got the better of him and he ended up vomiting mid-match multiple times. Following his defeat to Taylor Fritz, Djokovic apologized to the crowd.

Not great, I want to apologize to everybody. Sorry guys. Sorry you couldn’t see the second set. It was one of the longest sets I’ve played. Credit to Taylor. We had some incredible games towards the end of that set, and it’s one of the longest sets I’ve ever played, to be honest. It was an amazing visit to Riyadh for me once again. I want to thank everybody for really welcoming me.

Djokovic also expressed his wish to come to Riyadh next year as well. In the first edition of the Six Kings Slam, the 38-year-old lost to Jannik Sinner in three sets in the semifinals before beating Rafael Nadal in the third-place match.

Djokovic has won just the ATP 250 Geneva Open this year by defeating Hubert Hurkacz. He also played the final of the Miami Open as well as all of the Grand Slam semifinals.

Fritz’s next destination is Basel, where he will be bidding for his third title of the season after his wins at the Stuttgart Open and the Eastbourne International. He will be locking horns with Valentin Vacherot, the World No.40, who made global headlines after winning the Shanghai Masters by defeating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech. En route to the win, the 26-year-old knocked out five seeded players, including Djokovic in the semifinals. Fritz has never faced the Monegasque before.

Also read: Novak Djokovic Admits his 2025 Season has not Been Fully Satisfying