Taylor Fritz achieves major rankings breakthrough as he models new ‘Ken’ look
Taylor Fritz has been enjoying a stellar 2024 and now he has achieved one of his big goals for the season by qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin.
Fritz played in his first Grand Slam final at the US Open last month and also made it through to the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
He was a semi-finalist at the ATP 1000 events in Madrid and Shanghai and has notched up three wins against top ten rival Alexander Zverev in 2024, as well as wins against Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov when they were in the top ten of the ATP Rankings.
Now Fritz will be back in the ATP Finals for the second time in his career, as he joins Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev on the qualifying list for Turin.
By qualifying for Turin, Fritz has secured a $325,500 windfall from the participation fee for the most lucrative tournament on the ATP Tour.
He will collect $390,000 for each win in the group stages of the tournament and an additional $1,105,000 if he makes it through to the semi-finals and wins.
A Turin champion who goes through the week without losing a match will take home an eye-watering $4,801,500, with Fritz set to face one of Sinner or Alcaraz in the group stages.
That might now be an appetising prospect, as the American was brutally honest when he admitted the challenge of facing the top two players in the men’s game this year is the ultimate challenge in tennis.
“One thing both of those guys do is… their defence is incredible,” Fritz told the Tennis Channel.
“They don’t really play that much defence. When they are full on the run out in the corners, they just crush the ball.
“I can be in a backhand cross (court) rally with either one of them and if I hit a forehand, it’s got to be so good or else that next ball is getting just drilled huge cross court.
“They just play these lateral baseline points… like we used to see Nadal and Fed and most you saw Nadal and Novak have these long points, corner to corner.
“When Sinner and Alcaraz do it corner to corner, they have these same rallies but I swear they are hitting the ball ten miles an hour faster. It’s just crazy.”
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Fritz will be eager to fine-tune his game ahead of the ATP Finals with some solid performances at the Paris Masters and he is modelling a brand new look for his appearance in the French capital.
The American has been compared to Ken in the Barbie movie with his bleach blonde look and he admits it may only be a temporary change of look.
“A lot of people asking me why?” said Fritz. “No reason other than I just thought it would be funny. After seeing all the reactions and overreactions, I was right, it’s hilarious.
“I thought it was funny. I expected to just buzz it if I hated it, but I don’t hate it.”
Fritz and his glamorous girlfriend Morgan Riddle always get a lot of attention at big tennis events and Taylor’s bold new look is certain to have the flashlight flashing when he plays in Paris this week.
