Taylor Fritz battles past Zverev to become first American to reach ATP Finals final since 2006

Taylor Fritz has reached the final of the ATP Finals for the first time in his career after a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the season-ending event on Saturday.

And with the victory, he achieved a number of things.

Most notably, he’s the first American to reach the ATP Finals final in 18 years. James Blake was the last American to achieve the feat in 2006, finishing runner-up to Roger Federer in Shanghai.

No American man has won the ATP Finals this century—the last one to do it was Pete Sampras in 1999, defeating Andre Agassi in an all-American final in Hanover, Germany that year.

AMERICANS TO REACH ATP FINALS FINAL (since 1970):

1. Stan Smith: 1970 (Won), 1971 (R-Up), 1972 (R-Up)
2. Jimmy Connors: 1977 (Won)
3. John McEnroe: 1978 (Won), 1982 (R-Up), 1983 (Won), 1984 (Won)
4. Arthur Ashe: 1978 (R-Up)
5. Vitas Gerulaitis: 1979 (R-Up), 1981 (R-Up)
6. Andre Agassi: 1990 (Won), 1999 (R-Up), 2000 (R-Up), 2003 (R-Up)
7. Pete Sampras: 1991 (Won), 1993 (R-Up), 1994 (Won), 1996 (Won), 1997 (Won), 1999 (Won)
8. Jim Courier: 1991 (R-Up), 1992 (R-Up)
9. Michael Chang: 1995 (R-Up)
10. James Blake: 2006 (R-Up)
11. Taylor Fritz: 2024 (TBD)

Fritz, who was born in 1997, is the first American born in 1990 or later—or even 1980 or later—to reach the final of the ATP Finals.

Fritz’s win over Zverev is also tied for the biggest win of his career by ranking. It’s his third career win over a world No. 2, having beaten then-No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the round-robin stage of the ATP Finals in 2022 and Zverev at Laver Cup earlier this year.

It was also the American’s 10th Top 10 win of the year, just the third man this year to reach that milestone after the two men that swept the Grand Slams—Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

MOST TOP 10 WINS THIS YEAR (men):

• 15: Jannik Sinner
• 12: Carlos Alcaraz
• 10: Taylor Fritz
• 8: Alexander Zverev
• 6: Daniil Medvedev, Casper Ruud, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexei Popyrin

And last but not least, a head-to-head stat: Fritz is the first player ever to defeat Zverev four times in a row in the same year.

The American beat the German three straight times this summer—in the fourth round of Wimbledon, the quarterfinals of the US Open and at Laver Cup—and he made it four in a row on Saturday.

Six other players had beaten Zverev four or five times in a row before, but never four times in a row in the same season.

PLAYERS TO BEAT ZVEREV 4+ TIMES IN A ROW:

• Tomas Berdych: 4 in a row [2015-2016]
• Rafael Nadal: 5 in a row [2016-2018]
• Dominic Thiem: 4 in a row [2018-2020]
• Stefanos Tsitsipas: 5 in a row [2018-2020]
• Novak Djokovic: 4 in a row [2019-2021]
• Daniil Medvedev: 5 in a row [2020-2021]
• Taylor Fritz: 4 in a row [2024]

The pair’s battle in Turin on Saturday afternoon was a serving display, with only two breaks in the entire match—one in the first set for Fritz, and likewise one in the second set for Zverev.

Both players faced break points in the third set, Fritz saving three at 2-all, then Zverev three at 3-4, then Fritz another two at 5-all. But in the end it all came down to one tie-break, and it was the American who struck first, grabbing a mini-break for a 2-0 lead and never letting go of that lead, eventually unleashing one last inside-out forehand winner on his first match point to seal the victory after two hours and 21 minutes on court.

It was his 30th winner of the match, and 14th off the forehand.

He’ll play the winner of Sinner and Ruud in the final on Sunday.