Browsing: Fritz

Oct 14, 2025, 11:15 AM ET

There are some tennis fans who wonder why top players who complain about how crowded the sport’s calendar is would add an in-season exhibition like the Six Kings Slam, which starts Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, to their schedule.

Taylor Fritz can think of millions of reasons. Well, 6 million, to be precise.

“I’d love for them to show me a tournament where you can go play three matches — well, for the top two seeds, two matches — and potentially make $6 million,” Fritz said during a video interview from Riyadh on Tuesday. “I’d love to hear that from them.”

Well, then.

Fritz is one of six men scheduled to participate in the second edition of the Six Kings Slam. That includes Jannik Sinner, who is back after walking away with the check for that top prize a year ago in Saudi Arabia — more than any real tournament offers to the champion. The US Open’s recent $5 million payout to the women’s and men’s singles winners set the Grand Slam record.

This event is part of the kingdom’s recent big steps into tennis — and vice versa — including the WTA Finals in Riyadh, the ATP Next Gen Finals in Jedda and the Public Investment Fund’s sponsorship of the tours’ rankings. Hall of Famers Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been among the critics of the sport’s ties to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about LGBTQ+ and women’s rights there.

For the Six Kings Slam, each player is guaranteed an appearance fee of reportedly $1.5 million; the last one standing gets a bonus that brings his total to four times that for the matches being shown live on Netflix.

“The money is nothing we’re trying to hide. We know how much is at stake here, and it would be a lie if I told you it wasn’t a motivation,” said Sinner, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year and was the runner-up to rival Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open and U.S. Open. “Every player here will try to win as many matches as possible. It’s like any other exhibition – except here there is a bit more motivation.”

Sinner quit playing during his most recent match, 1½ weeks ago at the Shanghai Masters, because of severe leg cramps. But he said Tuesday he’s fine.

“I recovered. We took a few days off to rest and now we’re ready for the rest of the season,” said Sinner, who noted he has not decided whether to try to help Italy win a third consecutive Davis Cup title next month. “Mentally I’m in good shape … and will give 100%.”

He meets Stefano Tsitsipas on Day 1, when Fritz will face Alexander Zverev. The Fritz-Zverev winner takes on Alcaraz on Thursday, and the Sinner-Tsitsipas winner goes up against Novak Djokovic. After taking Friday off, the semifinal winners will play each other Saturday to close things.

Djokovic owns a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam trophies, Alcaraz has six, and Sinner has four; each also has been ranked No. 1.

Fritz was the runner-up to Sinner at the 2024 US Open. Zverev is a three-time major finalist, including losses to Sinner at this year’s Australian Open and Alcaraz at last year’s French Open. Tsitsipas was twice the runner-up to Djokovic at Slams.

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SHANGHAI — Big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard upset fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5 and advanced to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, while defending champion Jannik Sinner retired due to severe leg cramps.

After taking the opening set, Sinner, who won the China Open in Beijing, trailed 7-6 (3), 5-7, 2/3 against Tallon Griekspoor when he abandoned the match in humid conditions.

Sinner massaged his right thigh during the decider.

“This is definitely not the way you want to win,” Griekspoor said. “Brutal conditions here in Shanghai all week already. I thought we were a little bit lucky to play in the evening without sun, but two hours and 36 minutes on the clock, middle of the third set … I’m sorry for him, I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Jannik Sinner was forced to retire from his match Sunday at the Shanghai Masters due to severe leg cramps. Photo by Hu Chengwei/Getty Images

Mpetshi Perricard sent down 12 aces, to Fritz’s nine, and took a break in each set as he clinched his first tour victory against the American to set up a last-16 meeting with 10th-seeded Holger Rune.

Also Sunday, Novak Djokovic was made to work hard before he rallied past German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Djokovic struggled to cope with Hanfmann’s big serve and excellent play at the net. He’ll be up against Jaume Munar in the next round. Djokovic was sick during the second set and threw up during a changeover.

“It’s the same for every player out on the court, but it’s brutal,” Djokovic said of the conditions. “It’s brutal when you have over 80 percent of humidity day after day, particularly for the guys when they’re playing during the day with heat, with sun, it’s even more brutal.”

Djokovic is bidding for a record-extending fifth title at the Shanghai Masters.

Rune beat 21st-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4, Zizou Bergs upset 19th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the 31st-seeded Gabriel Diallo advanced by walkover after David Goffin retired early in the first set.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the Japan Open last week, is not in Shanghai due to minor ailments.

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World number one Carlos Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz 6-4 6-4 at the Japan Open – before pulling out of this week’s Shanghai Masters.

Alcaraz secured his eighth ATP title of the year in Tokyo.

But he then announced that he has withdrawn from the tournament in Shanghai, which starts on Tuesday, writing on Instagram that “the best decision is to rest and recover”.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been struggling with some physical issues and, after discussing with my team, we believe the best decision is to rest and recover,” he wrote.

The Spaniard twisted his left ankle during his opening-round match in Tokyo last Thursday.

But he showed no signs of an issue during the final, broke for 5-4 and served out for the first set against Fritz.

Fritz twice required treatment to his left thigh before returning for the second and Alcaraz seized the opportunity to pile on the pressure.

The American was broken twice and trailed 4-1 but did offer some resistance in the closing stages, chalking one of those off, but didn’t have enough to stop the six-time Grand Slam champion.

Since losing against Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon in July, Alcaraz has won three successive ATP titles – the Cincinnati Open, US Open and Tokyo Open.

But he will not take part in the tournament in Shanghai, where he reached the quarter-finals last year.

The Japan Open is Alcaraz’s 67th win of the season as he closes in further on Sinner’s tally of 73 wins in 2024.

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After consoling his opponent and embracing his team at the end of another successful week on the tour, Carlos Alcaraz had just one thought on his mind. He immediately sought out a pair of scissors to finally remove the extensive bandage wrapped tightly around his left ankle.

Having started his week in Tokyo by rolling his ankle and being unsure about whether he would continue, Alcaraz, the ATP No 1, ended it with his eighth title of the season as he overcame a spirited fight from a physically hampered Taylor Fritz to triumph at the Japan Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

Throughout the first few years of his career, even as he continued to win the biggest titles at a faster rate than almost any other male player in history, Alcarazâ€s relative inconsistency had been a dominant narrative surrounding his career. He has addressed those criticisms by putting together one of the greatest seasons of the past decade, one that has re-established him as the best player in the world.

Alcaraz has now reached nine consecutive finals, winning seven titles across all three surfaces and establishing a 66-6 (92%) record at individual events this year. At just 22 years old, the five-time grand slam champion and world No 1 has now won 24 ATP titles.

The past week has been particularly challenging. Four games into his first-round match against Sebastian Baez, Alcaraz rolled his left ankle. As he tried to play through pain and find a way through that match, Alcaraz was unsure whether he would be able to continue. Although Alcaraz played the rest of the tournament with his ankle heavily taped, he moved with increasing freedom in each match.

During his victory speech, Alcaraz thanked his physio Juanjo Moreno for his work during the week: “Starting the week not really good, with the ankle, and the way that I came back from that playing such a great tournament, great matches, Iâ€m just really happy about it,†he said.

Fritz, the No 4 and second seed, entered this final with ample reason to believe he could win after convincingly beating the Spaniard for the first time last week in the Laver Cup, where the American played some of the best tennis of his career and led Team World to victory. With an individual title on the line, however, Alcaraz was clearly performing at a much higher level from the beginning.

Although Fritz opened the match using his destructive first serve well, playing confident attacking tennis and working through his early service games, Alcaraz gradually took control of the baseline exchanges. He dominated with his forehand, currently the biggest weapon on the tour, he exposed the Americanâ€s average movement with his drop shots and he absorbed Fritzâ€s first strike with his own spectacular movement.

Carlos Alcaraz returns a shot against Taylor Fritz during the Japan Open final. Photograph: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

After conceding his first service game right at the end of the first set, Fritz called for the trainer and he received a medical timeout for his left thigh. He was clearly struggling with his movement throughout the second set and he was unable to push off his left leg when dragged out into the corners. Even at full health, defeating Alcaraz in his current form is a monumental challenge. Here it was simply too much.

Still, Fritz bravely continued to fight and, not for the first time in his career, Alcaraz began to lose his focus against his hampered opponent. From 5-1 in the second set, Alcaraz instead found himself desperately trying to hold on at 5-4, 15-30. He demonstrated his confidence in the final moments by regaining his composure precisely when he needed it, striking three consecutive drop shot winners from 15-30 down to close out yet another win.

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World number two Jannik Sinner moved into the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing thanks to a 6-1 7-5 victory over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan on Monday.

Italian Sinner claimed a seventh semi-final spot from the eight tournaments he has played this year and only needed 26 minutes to clinch the opening set.

In the second he fell awkwardly in the eighth game and was a break down at 4-5 but hit back immediately to deny Marozsan the set.

Sinner held and pounced on his opponent’s serve again in the 12th game, sealing his 40th tour-level match win of a season in which he served a short doping ban.

“I feel like I started off very well in the first set. We both played well in the second set. I had some break chances at 4-3 – I couldn’t use them,” Sinner said.

“He’s someone whose peak is high, which I knew before the match. When he was serving for the set he made a couple of unforced errors which helped me to come back and win in two.”

Up next for the four-time major champion is Australian third seed Alex de Minaur, who reached the semi-finals when Czech 20-year-old Jakub Mensik retired from their match with a left-leg injury while trailing 1-4 in the opening set.

American teenager Learner Tien reached his first ATP Tour semi-final when fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti retired trailing 4-6 6-3 3-0. The Italian appeared to be hampered by a thigh or groin issue.

Eighth seed Daniil Medvedev cruised past German second seed Alexander Zverev 6-3 6-3. The Russian has beaten Zverev 14 times in 20 meetings, including eight of their past 10 matches.

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Sep 22, 2025, 12:55 AM ET

Taylor Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Sunday to clinch the Laver Cup for Team World.

The American started strong at San Francisco’s Chase Center before Zverev found his rhythm and mounted a late comeback in the second set.

But Fritz matched the intensity, holding firm to close out the match and secure victory.

“We’re going to have a fun night,” Fritz told ATP.com before the trophy ceremony. “Definitely popping some champagne in the locker room in a few minutes.”

The win delivered the cup to Team World’s Andre Agassi in his first tournament as captain, marking the team’s third triumph in four years.

“Just seeing these guys on the bench getting pumped up, seeing a legend of the sport like Andre jumping out of his seat cheering for me, it’s impossible not to be so fired up and just give it everything you have,” Fritz said.

Team World won the Laver Cup for the third time in four years, and in Andre Agassi’s first tournament as captain. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images for Laver Cup

Earlier, Carlos Alcaraz kept Team Europe’s hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

The win cut Team World’s lead to 12-9 in the first-to-13 event, where each Sunday match was worth three points.

Australia’s Alex de Minaur had previously moved Team World within one point of the title, defeating Jakub Mensik 6-3, 6-4.

The 26-year-old earned seven points for his team over the weekend, having also beaten Zverev and teamed up with Alex Michelsen for a doubles win on Saturday.

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