Carlos Alcaraz overcame last year’s runner-up Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, battling back for a comeback 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 6-3 victory in Turin. The five-time Grand Slam champion made it two wins from two in the Jimmy Connors Group, moving him to within one victory of securing the coveted year-end number one ranking for the second consecutive time. Alcaraz was replaced as World No. 1 by rival Jannik Sinner earlier this month after the Paris Masters.
The contest spanned nearly three hours, with the first set lasting 70 minutes. Both players had to dig deep, surviving multiple break points and engaging in extended, captivating rallies. Fritz, who was imperious on serve in his opener, seized control of the tie-break, securing the one-set lead with his sixth ace. The momentum appeared to be with the American, who admitted post-match, "My opportunity to win that match was in the second set, and I didn't take it. I had the chances."
The turning point came in a pivotal 21-minute service game in the second set, where Alcaraz saved two break points to eventually hold, celebrating the exhausting escape as if he had won the match. Fritz finally buckled in the 12th game of the second set, committing unforced errors that brought up set points for Alcaraz, who leveled the match with a rasping passing shot. The momentum clearly shifted in the deciding third set; Alcaraz secured the crucial break in the sixth game and served out the victory to love, sealing his fifth win in six meetings against Fritz.
Alcaraz will secure the year-end World No. 1 ranking if he defeats Italy's Lorenzo Musetti in his final group contest on Thursday. Musetti, a late replacement for the injured Novak Djokovic, kept his own knockout hopes alive by staging a remarkable comeback from 5-3 down in the deciding set to defeat Alex de Minaur 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. Alcaraz now tops the group and admitted the ranking race is hard to ignore, saying, "It's really difficult not to think about the number one spot."
Fritz, who revealed he was battling knee tendinitis, was disappointed he couldn't convert his chances against the Spaniard, stating, "I just wasn't clinical enough in finishing some points on some really big points." His hopes of reaching the semifinals now depend on his last group contest against Alex de Minaur.
