Former player Steve Johnson weighed in on Taylor Fritz’s fading momentum following his loss to Carlos Alcaraz, noting that the American struggled to rediscover his form in Turin. Johnson also highlighted the unusual path Alex de Minaur took to reach the ATP Finals semifinals, advancing with just one win in the group stage. The Australian now prepares to take on Jannik Sinner in the last four as he aims to book his place in the championship match.

Taylor Fritz has firmly established himself among the world’s elite, having reached a career-high ranking of World No. 4. He booked his place at the ATP Finals with a second-round victory over Lorenzo Musetti at the Paris Masters. Drawn into the Jimmy Connors Group, the American No. 1 opened his campaign with a dominant win over Musetti. However, a narrow defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in his next outing halted his momentum, and a subsequent loss to Alex de Minaur sealed his fate, leaving him just short of a semifinal berth.

Former player and podcast host Steve Johnson recently weighed in on Taylor Fritz “losing the plot” at the ATP Finals and on Alex de Minaur’s unlikely path to the semifinals. Despite losing his first two group-stage matches, de Minaur’s victory over Fritz earned him a 1–2 record. Crucially, he held a superior percentage of sets won compared to the other players tied with the same record, allowing him to advance to the last four on a razor-thin tiebreak margin.

“I think more of this is on Fritz, just a little bit. I think he lost the plot. I don’t know if you guys watched the match when he played Carlos up a set, two all, break points, like good looks at break points to go up a set and a break. Didn’t get it. And I think after that game, Carlos was like, Okay, like I think he was nervous in that moment just trying to like get year in number one.” And then after he got through that game at two all, I mean, he was full-firing. You know, it just looked like the momentum was kind of out of Fritz’s sail. So, I think, you know, kind of a combination of everything, but it’s crazy that he (Alex de Minaur) wins one match, gets it in straights, and then still gets to the semis. I mean, it’s one of those weird loopholes,” he said in the Nothing Major podcast.….

Fritz delivered an impressive run at the Japan Open as well, reaching the final before falling to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Taylor Fritz referred to Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the ‘Big 2’ but considered himself close to their level

Taylor Fritz reached the final of the 2024 US Open but fell short against Jannik Sinner, missing out on what would have been the biggest title of his career. While he wasn’t able to repeat that deep run at the subsequent Majors, the American continued to challenge the sport’s best and consistently pushed the top two players throughout the season. Speaking to the media in Turin, Fritz even labeled Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz as the new “Big 2,” drawing a comparison to the legendary “Big 3” era of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.

Fritz then shifted the focus to his own progress, noting that his game has evolved considerably in recent seasons. He added that he has already pushed Alcaraz to the limit on multiple occasions, proving he can challenge the very best.

“Now we’re just in the ‘Big Two’,” Taylor Fritz said. “I think the difference is back when we had the big three, I mean, I’m a lot better of a player now. I think obviously if I play well, I can play a close match with Carlos Alcaraz, like we saw. Yeah, I need to continue to improve. That’s just what my focus is. Obviously those two are ahead of everyone,” he said.