Taylor Fritz rises to career-high No. 4 ranking after ATP Finals run
Taylor Fritz first broke into the Top 5 of the ATP rankings in February of 2023, nearly one year after winning the biggest title of his career in Indian Wells. The American now returns to that elite group at a career-high of world No. 4 following his run to the ATP Finals title match in Turin, Italy.
Champion in Delray Beach and Eastbourne this season, Fritz's two biggest results of 2024 were his runner-up finishes at the US Open and last week in Turin. Though he was beaten by world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in both of those championship matches, Fritz has proven he belongs among the game's very best.
“Something I told my team in 2023 when I hit world No. 5 for a week right before I was defending the Indian Wells title, was 'That's crazy, I'm five the world, look at all these guys ranked behind me that are probably better than me,’ ” Fritz recalled.
“Back then I was five, but I didn't feel like I was five. Now I'm ranked where I'm at. I feel like I belong. It's a different feeling. It's been a great year. That gives me a lot of confidence to have that belief. That's a huge part of having the big results.
“The goal that I set for myself at the start of the year was to finish Top 5.”
Fritz beat world No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev and No. 9 Alex de Minaur in Turin, with his semifinal victory against Zverev a repeat of the result from their meetings at the US Open, Wimbledon and Laver Cup.
The American was full of praise for Sinner after the Italian's 6-4, 6-4 final victory on home soil, but Fritz already has a plan to close the gap on the world No. 1.
“I definitely need to get more explosive and quicker in the first step,” he said, looking ahead to 2025. “If I can just get a little quicker off the split step, it will help my return of serve a lot. If I can just put myself in slightly better chances to break serve, I think that's going to be a huge improvement. That's something I've done already, but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement there.
“Something that got exposed today is when the balls got pretty worn out, I was struggling to generate any power with my backhand. It allowed him to take control of a lot of points. When the balls were newer, that wasn't really an issue. I was able to stay in the points.”
Fritz will finish his 2024 season at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, where he will represent the United States alongside Tommy Paul, debutant Ben Shelton, and doubles stars Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
Read more on USTA.com: Ben Shelton slated for Davis Cup debut in November's Final 8
Related Articles
-
Q&A: Michael RussellDecember 18, 2024Michael Russell discusses his coaching craft with USTA.com after winning the ATP's 2024 Coach of the Year award for his work with Taylor Fritz. Read More
-
2024 in reviewDecember 18, 2024Coco Gauff's title triumph at the WTA Finals and US Open runner-up finishes for Taylor Fritz and Jessica Pegula were among the top moments for American tennis in 2024. Read More
-
Russell: Coach of the YearDecember 11, 2024Taylor Fritz's coach Michael Russell won Coach of the Year in the 2024 ATP Awards, while Tommy Paul's coach Brad Stine was also among the nominees. Read More