SEPT 19 - 21, 2025 | SAN FRANCISCO
Winless in three previous encounters with Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz finally found a way to solve the world No. 1 on Saturday night at the Laver Cup in San Francisco, winning, 6-3, 6-2, in dramatic fashion and upping underdog Team World’s advantage to 7-3.
For the fifth-ranked Fritz, it was payback. Alcaraz, after all, had clinched a 13-11 victory for Team Europe last year in Berlin at his expense, 6-2 7-5. The Spaniard also joined teammate Jakub Mensik for a doubles point on Friday night, taking down the all-California duo of Fritz and Alex Michelsen, 7-6(7), 6-4.
“I knew what I had to do,” said Fritz, who notched his career-first win over a No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. “The question was if I was going to be able to do it. The three times I had played Carlos, he had broken me in the first game every time. Getting out of that first game was huge. I just made sure I didn’t second guess myself.”
“It’s such an amazing moment,” he added. “But what really does it for me is not the win itself, it’s how I played. It’s the level. It’s taking advantage of those big moments, pulling the trigger, just going out and taking it. I’m hoping this can be a sign of things to come.”
With Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and 20-time major singles titlist Roger Federer on hand for the coin-flipping duties, Fritz wrestled the early momentum in this blockbuster showdown, breaking Alcaraz for 3-1 in the opener with a picture-perfect overhead. The 27-year-old would go on to serve out the 38-minute stanza on his second set point.
“What really does it for me is not the win itself, it’s how I played. I’m hoping this can be a sign of things to come.” — Taylor Fritz
Alcaraz, the youngest of four men to win multiple Grand Slam titles on clay, grass and hard courts with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Mats Wilander, dazzled with his athleticism early in the second set. The Spaniard chased down an overhead in the opening game and responded with an unreturnable tweener, leaving even the two-time NBA MVP Curry in awe. But serving at 2-all, 15-40, his drop attempt fell short, surrendering a break and giving Fritz all the cushion he would need.
The American came into the match with an aggressive mindset, and would win 16 of 20 net points. He finished with 17 winners, including five aces.
“It wasn’t the match that I was expecting,” said Alcaraz. “But I think I have to look to him. I think he played some great tennis. I feel like he was more on the court than me. The first or second shot of the rally was really important, and he did it much better than I did. That was the key. In these [slow] conditions, the first shots are really important.”
There have been plenty of indelible moments in his career — toppling Rafael Nadal to claim his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells in 2022; reaching his first Grand Slam final last year in Flushing Meadows, etc. — but Fritz ranks this one at or near the top.
“I think I take almost more pride in this one because I feel like, start to finish, I won it, I earned it,” he said. “I think a lot of the decisive points in the match weren’t so much him giving them to me; I felt like I made it happen in those moments. Just start to finish, I played an amazing match.”
Fritz, competing in his fifth Laver Cup, and his first on home soil, came into the match with a tour-best 27 singles victories since June. He went 13-2 on grass this summer, capturing titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne, and advancing to the semifinals at Wimbledon, where he fell to Alcaraz, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6).
