Taylor Fritz’s year keeps on getting better.
Now the world No 5 is two matches away from the most lucrative cheque in his career.
Fritz edged past Alex de Minaur at the ATP Finals, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 and after Jannick Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, was confirmed as runner-up in the Nastase Group.
Fritz is now into the final four for the second time in three years – in fact he has reached that stage in both years he has automatically qualified for the season ending finale.
Having already reached the US Open final this year to go with two ATP titles, at Eastbourne and Delray Beach, Fritz will be looking to become an ATP finals champion for the first-time.
The 27-year-old is still the only American to reach a semi-final since Jack Sock, who in 2017 made a remarkable run before losing to
Grigor Dimitrov.
No American has won the ATP finals since Peter Sampras in 1999 claimed the title in an all-US battle against Andre Agassi and a Fritz title would end the 25-year wait for an American world tour champion.
The US Open finalist admitted he was pretty fatigued after his battle with de Minuar but the chance at history is what is motivating him.
“All of us are pretty beat up but if I’m in the semifinals of the world tour finals then I’ve got energy to give,” said Fritz after his win.
“He was all over me. What I did a great job of was towards the end of the second set I started to find my serve, I started serving much better.
“It just gave me a little bit of comfort to stay in the match and not be under so much pressure. It was still incredibly tough.”
Having already collected $4.6 million in prize money this year with the biggest cheque coming at the US Open where he accumulated $1.8 million, he could win the most lucrative amount of his career if he wins the ATP finals.
Fritz passed on the opportunity to win $4.8 million by not staying undefeated but becoming champion will see the American collect just under $2.3 million.
He will likely have Jannick Sinner in his way though, with the Italian having already denied the American a maiden Grand Slam earlier this year.
The Italian has lost just six times on tour this season and has two majors under his belt, while he defeated Fritz just days ago in straight sets during their group-stage game.
The 27-year-old, who has not beat Sinner in their previous three matches, explained that he doesn’t believe that the recent results in their matches reflect fairly on his level in-game.
“I think even though the result is the same and the score’s not even that different, the matches felt very very different,” Fritz said post-match,
“I felt like from the ground we were pretty even, to be honest. I didn’t feel like I was getting dominated in any of the patterns rally-wise… I felt like from the ground we were pretty close, to be honest.”
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Having finished as the world No.10 last year and back at his career high of world No.5, Fritz could move up to world No.4 in the live rankings if he wins his looming semi-final.
The American is proving as one of the most consistent players on tour and four-time Grand Slam winner, Jim Courier, praised Fritz for this recently.
“This year has been a major breakthrough for him – literally,” said Courier
“This has been the year he’s become a real factor in the majors that he’s played in, to his credit. He’s really consistently putting himself into position.
He has already fallen one game short of ending the 21-year wait for an American men’s singles Grand Slam champion.
Fritz’s ATP Finals semifinal will be played on Saturday and he will face either Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud or Alexander Zverev.
If he wins he will battle for the championship on Sunday and look to end another ongoing American drought.
