Fritz came through in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-3 to take confidence into his next match with world number one Jannik Sinner.

The second half of 2024 has been extremely positive for Fritz.

He’s enjoyed a breakout few months, reaching his first Grand Slam final in August when he lost to Sinner at the US Open.

Beating Medvedev is a good win for Fritz and it would appear that he enjoyed sharing the court with him after yesterday’s win.

Taylor Fritz shares what he thinks about Daniil Medvedev

Fritz has taken some time to come through at major events and he will hope to kick on in 2025 after reaching a maiden final.

Although he was emphatically beaten at the US Open it will give him confidence to one day go on and win a big title.

Medvedev is another player constantly striving for a consistent run on the tour – although he does have a US Open title to his name which came in 2021.

He’s also reached three finals in Australia and he will perhaps earmark that tournament in January as one he hopes to win.

After beating him, Fritz has shared what he thinks about Medvedev’s character.

He told Tennis TV: “I was just laughing. I think he is really funny, even when he is not playing me he always cracks me up. I think he’s pretty funny. I was laughing more when he was in between points tossing the racket up. It’s just him. When he had the upside-down racket it was 40-0 on my serve, so it’s whatever. He ended up making the return anyway.

“I had to tell myself to really focus because the way he played some of the points when it was 5-2 when he was serving, showed me that he wanted to hold that game and then try and break my at 5-3. Sometimes when your opponent makes it appear that they are not trying or trying for a game you can lose your focus and then they start trying again, they can catch you off guard.

“That happens a lot more in pro tennis than you think – the half tank and then a really quick play. So I had to stay focused at 5-3 because I knew if I didn’t serve a good game he wasn’t going to just give it to me. He was going to play a good game.

“Luckily for me, I served a really solid game there, I didn’t really give him a chance to play that game but he was definitely going to fight for that game and if he breaks me there we are basically back to even.

Fritz winning ATP Finals would be icing on the cake

Fritz and Tommy Paul were many people’s picks to win gold at the doubles tournament in Paris for the Olympics.

The American duo had to settle for bronze, however, and that is another fond memory of 2024 for Fritz.

As he stood alongside Sinner at the US Open with the second-place prize, Fritz looked dejected but that tournament should give him hope.

He’s proved that he can come through tough draws and reach major finals now and that has to become the norm for Fritz.

In some senses, Medvedev is perhaps a decent role model for Fritz as he looks to claim that all-important maiden Grand Slam title.

Fritz would dearly love to claim a win at the ATP Finals and if he keeps producing the goods, there is no reason why he can’t claim the title.

Related Posts