Fiery Fritz Destroys Europe's Alcaraz at the Laver Cup

Anyone who had the privilege of witnessing Taylor Fritz's spotless encounter against Carlos Alcaraz late Saturday night likely doesn't have words to describe it. Was it a  match that will go down in history books? No. But it may be Fritz's new favorite memory as he played perhaps his best tennis ever en-route to knocking out the Spaniard 6-3, 6-2 at the unique late-summer event. 

The Laver Cup, founded in 2017 by 20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer and his agent, Tony Godsick, is named after the Australian legend Rod Laver and features a packed weekend marathon as Team Europe takes on Team World to hoist the trophy and take home a quarter of a million dollars for each participant. Each side features six competitors from their home region captained by Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi for Europe and World, respectively. On the first day of play, a win for a team gives them one point. The second day, two. And on the final Sunday, when the victors are inevitably crowned, each match win is worth three points. A team has to reach a total of 13 points to walk away with the cup.

Photo credit: © Rolex/Antoine Couvercelle.

Team Europe sprung to an early lead, up 3-1 after the conclusion of play on Friday night. But the men in red had a chance to redeem themselves for a higher profit on Saturday, and they executed this mission perfectly. Alex de Minaur, hailing from Australia, took down his German rival Alexander Zverev to tie the score, 3-3. The Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo then defeated Holger Rune from Denmark to bring Team World into the lead by two points. And then American Taylor Fritz did the impossible---he took down the #1 player in the world who hasn't lost a match since the Wimbledon final, and did so easily.

When observing a match that Fritz performs poorly in, a low first-serve percentage and a lack of physical engagement often lead to defeat. But neither was a factor tonight, as Fritz tracked down nearly ever drop shot the tricky Alcaraz threw at him and served exceptionally well to stay confident on his own end. The only real scare for the #5 ranked player was in the very first game of the match, where he faced break points. After this bump in the road, it was all smooth sailing as he confidently broke the Spaniard midway through the first to win it, 6-3. The raw emotion started to pour out in the second set, as Fritz raised his level even higher and orchestrated the crowd beautifully turning it into a full masterclass show for nearly 20,000 fans and his teammates who vocally supported him from the player bench. 

Photo credit: © Rolex/Antoine Couvercelle.

Fritz excelled in several areas. He maintained perfect consistency on the backhand side, which can sometimes be mistimed and misfired when under pressure. No matter where Alcaraz pushed him on the court, Fritz was able to recover with a low, sweeping backhand that kept the point neutral. He attacked on his forehand, going for plenty of risks but reaping plenty of rewards as he approached the net and turned straight into a brick wall which his opponent couldn't penetrate. With five aces, an 80% win on first serve an unheard of 82% win on his second try, Fritz showed that he has made some serious, gutsy improvements on his game that have already shaped up well against the best. While things are looking good for Team World in the rest of the competition, it will be interesting to witness how Fritz progresses into the Asian swing and even how he kicks things off in Australia early next year. 

Catch the final day of action in San Francisco on Tennis Channel for US-based viewers, or watch an animated version of the tournament for free at lavercup.com.

===

Written by Florida Tennis contributor Will Turvey. Top photo: Mauricio Paiz.