Carlos Alcaraz’s ATP Finals win vs. Taylor Fritz: No 1 ranking update; what he said; and a surprising stat

Ewan West 11 Nov 2025 5:45 PM

Carlos Alcaraz roars

Carlos Alcaraz battled back from a set down to overcome Taylor Fritz in an intense and enthralling contest at the 2025 ATP Finals in Turin.

The world No 1 prevailed 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-3 against sixth-ranked Fritz in what was the second round robin match for both players.

Alcaraz‘s victory puts him top of the Jimmy Connors Group with a 2-0 record after his straight-set win over Alex de Minaur in his opening match.

Carlos Alcaraz beats Taylor Fritz at the 2025 ATP Finals

Carlos Alcaraz admitted he was “struggling more” than Taylor Fritz and that he was “relieved” to defeat the American in Turin
Despite this, Alcaraz’s performance was ranked as his third best display of 2025 by the ATP’s Tennis Insights Performance Rating metric
By beating Fritz, Alcaraz moved to within one win of securing the ATP year-end No 1 ranking ahead of Jannik Sinner

The six-time Grand Slam champion lost the opening set on a tiebreak, losing seven of the last eight points, having been up a break at 2-1 in the set. He then saved two break points in a 21-point fifth game in the second set before crucially breaking Fritz at 6-5 to win the set.

In the decider, Alcaraz raised his level and earned the only break to take a 4-2 lead en route to sealing the win in convincing fashion.

Alcaraz has improved his head-to-head record against Fritz to 5-1, with his only defeat to the 28-year-old American coming at the Laver Cup.

The 22-year-old is chasing his maiden ATP Finals crown and his ninth title in what has been an outstanding 2025 campaign.

What Carlos Alcaraz said after beating Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals

In an on-court interview with Tennis TV, Alcaraz gave an honest assessment of the match and said he had felt the ball better in his opening win against de Minaur.

“Well, it was pretty tight, the match. I think I was running more than him, I was struggling more than him,” said Alcaraz.

“After the first set that I was break up. I think the first set, I didn’t serve well and I think he was playing really, really comfortable from the baseline, with everything.

“Yeah I was really relieved after the win because everything that I went through during the match. Physically, I didn’t feel the ball as well as the first round, but really happy that I found the way to come back, to find the weaknesses from him. And really happy that I got the win at the end.”

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How good was Carlos Alcaraz’s performance?

Despite the fact that there were some shaky moments for Alcaraz against Fritz, the Spaniard’s performance was given a stellar 9.16 rating out of 10 by the ATP’s Tennis Insights data metric.

This is the third-highest Tennis Insights Performance Rating Alcaraz has posted in a match this season.

Tennis Insights measures data across a host of metrics, including the quality of each shot, to determine a player’s overall Performance Rating.

Alcaraz’s Top 5 Performance Ratings in 2025

1) 9.47 vs. Brandon Nakashima in Tokyo

2) 9.42 vs. Taylor Fritz in Tokyo

3) 9.16 vs. Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals

4) 9.09 vs. Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals

5) 9.03 vs. Andrea Vavassori in Rotterdam

Naomi Cavaday, a former British player who commentated on the match for Tennis TV, assessed Alcaraz’s performance.

“It was exceptional, it really, really was, because it just built and built for Alcaraz. Just got better and better,” Cavaday said.

“He was putting all the pieces together methodically and that number was rising all the way to the end.”

Carlos Alcaraz closes in on year-end No 1 ranking

Carlos Alcaraz is now one win away from securing the ATP year-end world No 1 ranking ahead of his rival, Jannik Sinner.

The 22-year-old will face Lorenzo Musetti in his third and final round robin match in Turin.

Asked about the No 1 ranking, Alcaraz said: “Well, I try not to think about it, to be honest.

“Obviously, it’s gonna be a really big match for me. I will try not let the nerves playing a bad time for me in that match, so I will try to control the emotions, to control myself.

“I will think about my goals in the match, I will try to think about feeling much better than today, with the serves, with the shots, with everything.

“But obviously it’s gonna be a big day. So right now, I’m gonna enjoy this win. I’m gonna try to rest as much as I can to be ready for the next match.”