Fritz reaches another big final at ATP Finals

U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz reached another big final at the ATP Finals by beating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) on Saturday.

The last American to win the elite eight-man event was Pete Sampras, who beat Andre Agassi in 1999.

“I trust my game and I trust my level and I don’t feel nearly as uncomfortable in these situations anymore because I’ve been I’ve been playing the top guys at big events a lot lately,” Fritz said. “I’m getting more comfortable in the moment. I’m really, really confident in my game.”

Fritz became the first American finalist since James Blake lost the 2006 final to Roger Federer.

If Fritz wins the trophy, it will mark an American sweep of the season-ending events after Coco Gauff won the WTA Finals last week.

In Sunday’s final, Fritz will face top-ranked Jannik Sinner — the player he lost to in the U.S. Open final — or Casper Ruud, who were playing later.

Sinner also beat Fritz in straight sets in the group stage this week.

Fritz's run in New York made him the first American man to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 15 years. He's playing at the finals for the second time. On debut two years ago, he beat Rafael Nadal in his opener and made it to the semifinals, losing to Novak Djokovic.

“It’s awesome to come back and already go a step further,” Fritz said. “I’m all about always trying to do better than the year before.”

At the start of the week, Fritz told The Associated Press in an interview that his “career has always been a very steady progression and just improving a little bit each year.”

It was Fritz’s fourth consecutive victory over Zverev, who replaced Carlos Alcaraz at No. 2 in the rankings this week.

Fritz, who is No. 5, also beat Zverev at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, plus the Laver Cup.

It was a matchup of big servers between the 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) Fritz and the 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev, and when Fritz broke Zverev for 4-2 in the first set, it marked the first time that Zverev lost a service game in four matches in Turin.

Eventually, though, the match turned into a physical duel from the baseline. Fritz rallied from 0-40 and held his serve for 3-2 in the third after a nine-minute game full of long rallies – winning one such exchange that lasted 30 strokes.

Fritz was then under pressure one service game after another but somehow managed to keep holding.

Fritz got ahead early in the tiebreaker and finished Zverev off with an audacious inside-out forehand winner on his first match point.

“I lose at least one of those (break) points and that’s probably it,” Fritz said. “That’s how it kind of goes with playing Sascha. Whoever takes their chances between the two of us is going to win the match just because you don’t get too many and we’re both big servers.”

Fritz finished with 15 aces to Zverev's 10 in a match that last 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Zverev, the finals champion in 2018 and 2021, entered the semifinals on an eight-match winning streak after taking the Paris Masters.

“I just told myself at the end I had to just fight and be solid and try to take care of my serve the best I can,” Fritz said, “but just try to just give him absolutely nothing from the back. ”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis