A fan's take on the Alcaraz-Fritz showdown

Carlos Alcaraz, from Spain, and Taylor Fritz, from America, competed against each other in the first round of the ATP Finals in Italy on Nov. 11. (Photo credit: Yahoo Sports)

Along with Formula 1, I’ve recently been getting into tennis.

To me, this rapidly growing interest in both sports tells me I’m maturing, and I’ll tell you why.

In the past, whenever I saw tennis on television, I thought about how boring it seemed. I thought: it’s merely hitting a ball back and forth. Nothing crazy about that.

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve developed a newfound appreciation and curiosity about the physicality and logistics of the sport — and I ran with it.

Players like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are at the peak of cementing their names in sports history. The first match I watched that got me hooked on tennis was their finals matchup at Roland Garros earlier this year. As any tennis fan knows, that was the match to watch — a five-set thriller with Alcaraz coming out on top after surviving three match points in the fourth set.

In case you have five hours to spare, this is the full replay.

Now, the Nitto ATP Finals have just commenced, and I’m starting to understand the game a bit more.

I may not know the technicalities and jargon of tennis, but I definitely understand what it takes to be an elite competitor. So, I usually draw my observations from an overall competitive standpoint rather than a purely tennis standpoint.

And yesterday, the match between Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz really got my blood boiling.

Since there are only eight players participating in this tournament and it’s not single elimination, I’ve decided not to root for a single player. I just want to watch high-performance tennis. But in this match, I felt a lot of American pride, so I decided to cheer on Fritz from my couch.

Fritz won his last ATP title at the Eastbourne International this past June. (Photo credit: National Bank Open)

Fritz had an amazing start to this match. Alcaraz is a tough opponent to conquer, but Fritz did not back down. While Alcaraz missed quite a few of his first serves, Fritz was dominating his. He had more than double the number of aces Alcaraz had by the end of the first set.

Based on previous matches I’ve watched of Fritz, I noticed that he tends to get frustrated very easily. It’s honestly hard to watch because he doesn’t seem like he’s having fun half the time. When he started the match strong, I thought he finally was going to let loose and just play exciting, fun tennis.

My analysis of Fritz’s ultimate loss is that he gave Alcaraz too much time to get comfortable. In the first two sets, Alcaraz was clearly not at the top of his game. I felt like I was watching Fritz play his best and Alcaraz his worst. But Fritz didn’t take advantage, and this led to Alcaraz making big-time shots and winning long rallies to get his momentum going.

Fritz had a very narrow opening to take down the world No. 1, but unfortunately it slipped away from him as fast as it came along. However, this tournament is round-robin style, so Fritz will most likely have another opportunity to face Alcaraz on the court again if he continues to play the way he did in the opening set.

The most intriguing aspect of this sport is the fact that, as a player, you’re out there all on your own. It takes incredible amounts of focus and determination to get through a match, and I find that’s what I respect most about these world-class tennis players.

More updates to come as the Finals continue …