“Taylor Fritz is not Carlos Alcaraz’s level” - Alexander Zverev opines on what makes American 'different' from Spaniard after ATP Finals SF loss

Alexander Zverev talked about what makes Taylor Fritz 'different' from Carlos Alcaraz and a tough opponent even though the American No. 1 is not on the Spanaird's level. The German made these comparisons after he was defeated by Fritz in the semifinals of the 2024 ATP Finals.

Zverev has had an amazing year, reclaiming the World No. 2 spot and winning two Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Paris. However, there has been one man that has been a huge roadblock in the German's way. That man is Fritz, who has defeated the 27-year-old four times this year.

The American's first win came in Wimbledon when he turned around a two-set deficit to reach the quarterfinals, following which he triumphed over Zverev at his home slam, the US Open.

The two then duked it out at the Laver Cup in doubles, where Fritz partnered with Ben Shelton and Zverev teamed up with Alcaraz. This match also ended in the American No.1's way following which he defeated the German in singles at the same event.

With a statement 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2) win in the ATP Finals, Taylor Fritz now leads Alexander Zverev 7-5 in their head-to-head.

During the press conference, Zverev was asked how he prepared for his match against Fritz after defeating Alcaraz.

"Yeah, Taylor maybe is not Carlos' level, but he plays different. He has a lot bigger serve and a lot less rhythm when you play against him," Alexander Zverev said.

The German then said that he initially wasn't feeling as energetic during his semifinal match as he felt against Alcaraz, but started finding his rhythm as the match went on.

"I felt a bit more empty today. Yesterday I felt really energetic and kind of full of energy. I was like a jumping ball that I could move and I could run no matter how long. Today I felt more empty, especially in the beginning. The longer the match went on, the better I felt actually. In the beginning of the match I struggled. In the warm-up I struggled as well."

"It was one of those days where everything, it takes times to get going. It's like it's not a natural flow to movement patterns, to your shots as well, to just how you wake up in the morning. Everything is a little bit more tiring. I felt that way today," he added.

Taylor Fritz will play the winner of Jannik Sinner and Casper Ruud in the summit clash.

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"Against Carlos Alcaraz, it was the highlight of the tournament" - Alexander Zverev hails his match against the Spaniard as the 'highest-level' match of the 2024 ATP Finals

Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz (Source: Getty)

Continuing his thoughts, Alexander Zverev said that he felt his 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Carlos Alcaraz was the 'highest-level' match of the ATP Finals this year. He had even hailed the 21-year-old as Spiderman after their match:

"At the end of the day you're only going to play the best players in the world here, of course. Yesterday against Carlos, it was the highlight of the tournament. Probably the highest-level match that the tournament has seen so far," Alexander Zverev said.

However, he was disappointed at how he was unable display the same caliber of tennis during the first set against Fritz.

"Unfortunately, I didn't back it up at the level in the first set. Again, as I said, I thought in the second and third set I did everything to extend maybe better than him, except to win in the important moments, the break points, the tiebreak, yeah. That's how you lose a match in the end."

Zverev has ended his season with a 69-21 win/loss record this year and will end his 2024 season as the World No. 2 with 7915 points only behind Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz follows in third and Taylor Fritz is set to eclipse Daniil Medvedev to become the World No. 4 for the first time in his career after the ATP Finals.