The straight-sets loss to Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s ATP Finals last doesn’t do justice to Taylor Fritz’s phenomenal 2024 season.
The World No. 4 made historical past coming into Sunday’s match, changing into the primary American man since Andre Agassi in 1999 to achieve the finals of the U.S. Open and ATP Finals in the identical calendar 12 months, to not point out the primary ATP Finals finalist since James Blake in 2006. Earlier within the 12 months, the uber-consistent Fritz additionally grew to become the primary American to achieve the second week of all four majors in a year since 2003.
Because the runner-up on the ATP Finals, Fritz put up a valiant struggle in opposition to Sinner, combining for the highest performance rating score for any match in 2024. Whereas the ultimate rating of 6-4, 6-4 suggests in any other case, the 27-year-old produced high quality tennis and pushed the Italian to the brink by profitable 46/61 of his first-serve factors and connecting on 20 winners. Finally, Fritz’s 15 unforced errors precipitated his undoing, however his serve and return high quality proved he is worthy of being a top-5 ranked participant.
