Taylor Fritz makes his feelings known about not being considered 'enough' in American media despite consistently proving his quality
Taylor Fritz ended his round-robin stage at the ATP Finals after beating Alex de Minaur 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, registering his fourth win over the Aussie in nine matches.
De Minaur started well, winning the first set 7-5. However, Fritz bounced back to win the next two sets and keep his semifinal hopes in Turin alive. It's also the American's ninth win over a top-10 player in 2024.
Taylor Fritz is set to finish this season in the Top 5 of the ATP rankings, becoming the first American to do so since James Blake in 2006. The 27-year-old was asked in his post-match press conference if he felt he wasn't "being considered enough" in the American media despite his performances.
He replied by opining that one would not be considered enough until they won a Grand Slam.
"I don't think anyone's going to be considered enough until, I guess, someone wins a slam. I think I've probably shown through the years that, I mean, I've had the best results. Yeah, if people don't think I'm good enough to win a slam, then yeah, you're going to look to younger people that they think have more potential. I mean, that is what it is," Fritz said.
The US Open runner-up also said that he showed why he has been the top American over the past few years and that he let his results do the talking.
"I've shown why I'm the top American for the last couple years, kind of every year with my results. I kind of just let my results do the talking. If that's not enough for people, then it is what it is. Some people prefer people with more just flashier games," the American said.
Taylor Fritz has won 51 of 73 matches in the 2024 season, notably reaching the US Open final. The American won ATP 250 titles in Delray Beach and Eastbourne and also reached Masters 1000 semifinals in Madrid and Shanghai.
"I found a way to stay in it" - Taylor Fritz on turning things around after losing opening set to Alex de Minaur
Taylor Fritz spoke about how he turned the match around after losing the opening set to Alex de Minaur. The American said that he started to find rhythm in his serves towards the end of the second set, which eventually helped him put pressure on De Minaur's service games.
"I found a way to stay in it, get the holds. I kind of started to find the rhythm on the serve at the end of the second. I think from the end of the second I served really well for the rest of the match. It just allowed me to take some pressure off of those serve games, start to put a little bit more pressure on his service games," Fritz said.
The American started his campaign at the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Daniil Medvedev before losing 6-4, 6-4 to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. He will reach the semifinals if the Italian wins his final round-robin match against Medvedev.
Fritz will reach the last four of the ATP Finals for the second time if he makes it through this time. The American had made the semifinals in 2022 before losing 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.