Taylor Fritz upsets Carlos Alcaraz at Laver Cup for first win vs. reigning world No. 1

While Fritz has notched plenty of big wins before, beating Rafael Nadal to win Indian Wells in 2022 and reaching the 2024 US Open final, this victory stands out in his mind.

"I think I take almost more pride in this one, because I feel, start to finish, like I won it and I earned it," he said. "I think a lot of the decisive points in the match weren't so much off of, like, him giving it to me. I felt like I made it happen in those moments.

"Yeah, just start to finish played an amazing match, and I went out and I took it."

The slow Laver Cup conditions could have favored Alcaraz, the two-time defending Roland Garros champ who grew up on clay, but Fritz executed an aggressive game plan on the black hard court that called for him to do more with his rally balls.

"I felt like I had to press a little more with just my rally ball, just to up my rally ball that I'm hoping to be very consistent with, because if I didn't, I felt like he was going to beat me to the punch and hurt me," Fritz said.

"Taylor played a great match, really solid, playing aggressive when he could," said the Spaniard, who noted Fritz's success in controlling the court early in the rallies. "I think everything went to his side, so I have to congratulate him, that he played a much better game than I did."

The top-ranked player on Team World and the top-ranked American at No. 5 in the ATP rankings, Fritz reached a career-high of No. 4 last November. He is hoping this famous victory, one that was watched by Roger Federer and Golden State Warriors legend Steph Curry, can propel him to new heights.

"I think I win a lot of matches from kind of, like, just serving and pushing," Fritz said with a smile. "I think that it's kind of been my joke this year, that I'm a bot that pushes.

"This is the tennis that I want to play. Yeah, it makes me so happy to play at that level. I'm hoping this can be a sign of things to come as far as just me being able to just trust [my game] in the big moments."