Carlos Alcaraz battles past Taylor Fritz at ATP Finals for milestone 50th Top 10 win of career

Carlos Alcaraz has battled past Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-3, to not only improve to 2-0 in their round-robin group and inch closer to qualifying for the semifinals, but to hit a major milestone.

His victory over the No. 6-ranked American was the 50th Top 10 win of his career, and he's one of the youngest men ever to hit that number.

At 22 years and six months, he's younger than any of the Big 3 were when they reached that milestone—Rafael Nadal came the closest, doing it at 22 years and nine months in 2009, but Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were both 23 when they did it, in 2005 and 2011.

Alcaraz is actually the youngest man to achieve the feat since Boris Becker, who achieved the feat at 21 years and nine months with his victory over then-No. 1 Ivan Lendl in the 1989 US Open final.

YOUNGEST PLAYERS TO RECORD 50 TOP 10 WINS IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY (since 1973):

• Bjorn Borg, 21 years & 5 months [1977]
• Boris Becker, 21 years & 9 months [1989]
• Carlos Alcaraz, 22 years & 6 months [2025]
• Rafael Nadal, 22 years & 9 months [2009]
• Ivan Lendl, 22 years & 10 months [1983]

Having won their last indoor hard-court meeting 6-3, 6-2 at Laver Cup in September, Fritz came out strong against Alcaraz again at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, not only rallying from an early break down and cruising through a tie-break to take the 70-minute first set, but holding two break points with Alcaraz serving at 2-all in the second set.

And that game could have been the turning point—after two break points, eight deuces and 20 minutes, Alcaraz finally held for 3-2, eventually got the only break of the second set to close it out, 7-5, and then broke one last time midway through the third set en route to victory after two hours and 48 grueling minutes on court.

The Spaniard finished the match with 47 winners—almost half of which, 23, came from his forehand wing—to 37 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Fritz had an almost even 38 winners to 39 unforced errors on the day.

"Well it was pretty tight," Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. "I think I was running more than him, I was struggling more than him.

"In the first set I didn't serve well, and he was playing very comfortably from the baseline with everything, so I was really relieved after the win because everything I went through in the match, basically, because I didn't feel the ball as well as in the first round. But I'm really happy that I found a way to come back and that I got the win in the end."

And there could be more good news tonight—if Alex de Minaur defeats Lorenzo Musetti in the night match, Alcaraz will qualify for the semifinals. If Musetti wins, the qualifiers will be determined on Thursday.

And there's one more battle going on this week—Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner duking it out for the ATP's 2025 year-end No. 1 ranking.

With Alcaraz beating Fritz on Tuesday, the scenario is simple—the only way Sinner can clinch year-end No. 1 now is by winning the title undefeated and for Alcaraz to not win another match in Turin.

So if Sinner loses any match from here on, or if Alcaraz wins any match—including his next one against Musetti—the Spaniard clinches it.

Just how much is year-end No. 1 on his mind?

"I will try not to think about, to be honest," he said. "Obviously it's going to be a really big match for me. I will try not to let nerves play a bad time for me in that match, so I will try to control the emotions, control myself. I will think about my goals in the match, I will try to think about feeling much better than today. But obviously it's going to be a big day.

"So right now I'm just going to enjoy this win, and I'm going to try to rest as much as I can just to be ready for the next match."