The American also reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for a second time, as Fritz lost to Lorenzo Musetti in a five set thriller.

Fritz recently reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters where he fell short to 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, in another strong showing.

His most impressive performance of the year came in New York however, where Fritz reached the final of the US Open, eventually losing out to Italian world number one Jannik Sinner.

These performances were more than enough to qualify the 27-year-old for the ATP Finals, where Fritz is very wary of one particular opponent.

Taylor Fritz says Alex de Minaur is a ‘nightmare’ to play against

Speaking ahead of the ATP Finals in Turin, Fritz spoke about his last matchup with Alex de Minaur at the United Cup earlier this year.

“I played Demon [Alex de Minaur] in the second match of this year and personally I felt it was one of the highest levels of tennis I have ever seen on the other side of the court playing against,” he said.

Fritz was beaten 6-4, 6-2 by De Minaur at the United Cup this January.

The American number one went on to praise De Minaur for qualifying for the event despite his injury struggles.

“It’s not too surprising to me that he is here, maybe only surprising because he has been dealing with injuries for a lot of this year so it just speaks to how well he has played that he has still qualified having missed time or played through injuries for the last bit of the year,” said Fritz.

The 27-year-old also spoke highly of the Australian’s all action style.

“He is an incredible player,” he said.

“He is super fast, plays great defence, takes a lot of time away from you, plays great offence, comes into the net.

“I mean he’s a nightmare.”

Can Taylor Fritz become the first American ATP Finals winner in 25 years?

Fritz will look to become the first American ATP Finals champion since 1999 this year in Turin.

A quarter of a century has gone by since Pete Sampras took down Andre Agassi in an all American final in Hanover.

The title was Sampras’ fifth and final year-end crown, dominating the tournament throughout the 1990s.

Despite a 25 year wait for another title, America remains the most successful nation at the event having won 11 titles since the events conception in 1970.

It remains to be seen if Fritz can add to America’s success at the event but will have to work hard to get out of a tough group that includes Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and De Minaur.

Fritz will begin his ATP Finals campaign against Medvedev on Sunday, with De Minaur facing off against Jannik Sinner.

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