NEW YORK — Ahead of Wimbledon, Taylor Fritz said men’s tennis feels more open now, compared to the Big Three era.
“It only took one of them to play incredibly well,” he said of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
“We were younger and not as good as we are now. You hoped they would have a bad day and you would have a bad day,” Fritz said. “Nowadays, for everyone in the top fifteen, it is the one who plays the best.
“It’s exciting for all of us because we know that all you need is two weeks or ten days of playing tennis at a really high level and making the most of the opportunities.”
This US Open has proven Fritz right and wrong. Early exits for Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz offered hope to the chasing pack, but the tournament ultimately maintained the status quo as world number 1 Jannik Sinner won his second Grand Slam of the year by beating Fritz 6-3, 6- 4, 7 to beat. -5.
While the other two 2024 majors go to Alcaraz, 21, he and Sinner, 23, have won five of the last six Slams. They’re performing at the sharp end of the majors with Big Three-like efficiency, and they’re still quite young.
However, their dominance feels different from the rest of the locker room. After being defeated by Fritz in Friday’s semi-final, Frances Tiafoe said this tournament had been ‘great’ and had shown the best of the rest that a Grand Slam victory is within reach. “It shows that it is certainly possible,” he says. ‘The game is open. Even with Alcaraz and Sinner and these other guys, it’s not what it used to be.
Alexander Zverev, just ahead of Alcaraz at No. 2 but without the same major success, expressed similar sentiments before Wimbledon.
Part of the sentiment comes from the fact that even if they win the bulk of the slams, Sinner and Alcaraz aren’t about to be a shoo-in for the semifinals or finals of every major tournament. Alcaraz showed that with his second-round exit here. Djokovic is still immensely talented but has been more uneven, offering the court a glimmer of hope after his worst Grand Slam year since 2017 (and second-worst since 2009).
Fritz said on Sunday that he is encouraged that he reached the final without playing That Good.
“I think it’s very positive for me because at no specific point in these two weeks do I feel like I was playing great tennis,” he said. “Maybe it’s a bit more open. I don’t think you have to, I don’t know, play incredible to get deep into tournaments and compete.”
“If I play good tennis,” Taylor Fritz said, “I think that level is good enough to win.” (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Players like Fritz haven’t built up the kind of scar tissue with Alcaraz and Sinner that they had with the Big Three. Even if they find themselves losing to them, at least they feel like they have a chance to win.
With the Big Three, players like Fritz largely went in with hope rather than expectations. Before facing Sinner, Fritz, on the other hand, said: “I feel like I’m going to play really well and win. If I play good tennis, I think that level is good enough to win.”
Ultimately, Sinner proved too strong. Fritz acknowledged afterwards that: “I think you can (now) get a little deeper into the draws – quarter-finals and all that – if you just play solid tennis. I still think if you want to beat the top, you have to bring your A-game.”
And that’s the problem. For a player like Fritz to break through and win a slam, he will most likely still have to face Sinner, Alcaraz or Djokovic. And as much as this tournament showed that there would be more opportunities for non-elite players to reach the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, none of these players recorded a historic win against any of the top three.
Djokovic’s conqueror, Alexei Popyrin, is a step or two below the group of main challengers, and Botic van de Zandschulp, who defeated Alcaraz, is unlikely to be at the end of the slam anytime soon.
However, Fritz will leave this tournament with a slightly changed position in the game. He spoke after the defeat to Sinner about how you can only beat what is in front of you, and the way he navigated Friday’s very stressful and somewhat strange semi-final against his good friend and compatriot Tiafoe seems to have boosted his confidence.
There had always been a battle between those two and the rest of the tight-knit group of American players over who would reach a Grand Slam final first. Fritz did it and, in his opinion, while not playing at his best. That bodes well for him heading into the Australian Open in January.
But on Sunday, Fritz was reminded that he is still a long way from taking that final step. He talked about how his plan B to work it out works against most players, but not the ones at the top. He knows he needs to add more to his game to take the next step.
Because while the paths to the semi-finals and finals may become easier, as long as Alcaraz and Sinner perform, the chasing pack still has a way to go.
(Top photo: Kena Betancur / AFP)