Taylor Fritz outserves Auger-Aliassime to set semi-final with Djokovic at ATP Finals

In a battle of big servers American Taylor Fritz edged Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the Nitto ATP semi-finals on his debut.

Taylor Fritz ATP Finals Turin 2022 || AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Chris Oddo

November 18, 2022

Nitto ATP Finals •group-stage • completed

See draw

F. Auger-AliassimevsT. Fritz

Taylor Fritz qualified for the field at the ATP Finals at the last second, when Carlos Alcaraz had to pull out due to an abdominal injury. Now the 25-year-old American is making himself comfortable in Turin.

Fritz battled past Felix Auger-Aliassime in a hard-serving battle on Thursday night in Turin, 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-2 to reach the semi-finals on his ATP Finals debut. The American sets a clash with Novak Djokovic on Saturday.

HERE TO STAY 👊@Taylor_Fritz97 defeats Auger-Aliassime in a marathon 7-6 6-7 6-2 and sets up a semi-final clash with Djokovic!#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/mJ7qzyGR9a
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 17, 2022

Fritz never surrendered a break as he surged past the Canadian in the final set – breaking two times – to win his 45th match of the season and improve to 2-0 against Auger-Aliassime.

Fritz was dominant on serve, winning 49 of 56 first-serve points and 24 of 34 from his second-serve.

“I needed to serve well the whole time,” he said. “It was one of those matches where I really just had to stay patient, not get too frustrated, and then just capitalize when I got the chances.”

The American hit 23 winners against 22 unforced errors; Auger-Aliassime hit 32 winners and 36 unforced errors.

The Canadian was brilliant from the service stripe as well, and had the momentum after rallying from 4-2 down to win the second-set tiebreak, but he faltered in the final set. He dropped just eight first-serve points in the first two sets and did not face a single break point. In the third set he won only 8 of 17 from his first serve and surrendered two breaks from five opportunities.

Fritz won the final four games of the contest, breaking for 4-2, and again for the match.

Thrilled to reach the final four

Fritz has already won a Masters 1000 title in 2022, and now he is excited to be two victories from what would be his biggest title to date.

“It’s huge,” he said. “To go from possibly not even qualifying to being in it, and now in the semis, it’s great.

“I felt like I was gonna play well here. I feel like I always play my best tennis against the best players. I’m super happy to be moving on.

The American is 0-5 lifetime against Djokovic and knows there will be no room for error on Saturday.

“It goes without saying I have to serve really well,” he said. “Lucky for me, I have been feeling like the serve has been strong. I have to return well and when I get my opportunities I have to take them – I can’t can’t waste opportunities against someone like Novak.