Archive of posts tagged Turin

Fritz Fires Past Rublev Into Fifth Semifinal of Season in Toronto

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By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Photo credit: National Bank Open by Rogers Facebook

Demonstrative displays aren’t typically part of Taylor Fritz’s arsenal.

Tonight, Fritz fired the exclamation point to punctuate a declarative victory. 

On match point, Fritz slammed his 20th ace completing a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over Andrey Rublev to power into his fifth semifinal of the season at the National Bank Open in Toronto.

Tennis Express One Day Sale
Tennis Express One Day Sale

The second-seeded Fritz posted his 20th hard-court win of the season—he’s the third man to do it—advancing to his 38th career semifinal.

“I would say tonight I felt the best about my game, just striking the ball-wise,” Fritz said. “I feel like all week it’s kind of been flying, tough to control, easy to miss the ball.

“It’s not just me, just watching any of the other matches, I can seeing people are hitting the ball a lot softer than they normally do, they’re playing a lot safer, people are making more mistakes. I think conditions here, it’s just tough in general to play.

“Tonight for sure it was the most I felt like I could control the ball, and also kind of go after it and feel like I was confident in where it was going. That’s obviously a good thing going into the semis.”

Wimbledon semifinalist Fritz will face fourth-seeded compatriot Ben Shelton for a spot in the final. Shelton slammed 11 aces defeating ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-4 in tonight’s second quarterfinal. Fritz, who is 1-0 against Shelton, is bidding for his first hard-court final since he beat de Minaur and Alexander Zverev in succession to reach the ATP Finals title match in Turin last November.

“I feel like when we played the first time his serve was still huge,” Fritz said of Shelton. “I mean, maybe the spots are better. His serve was really good when I played him, whenever it was, like two, three
years ago, I’m not sure.”

Bursting out of the blocks quickly, Fritz flew eight points in a row surging to a 3-0 lead against the 2024 Canadian Open finalist. 

The 27-year-old Fritz was cracking the ball with depth off both wings, punished the Rublev two-handed backhand and even carved some timely drop shots seizing a one-set lead. Fritz served 70 percent and won 17 of 23 first-serve points in the opening set. 

“He’s one of the best players. He get great results,” Rublev said of Fritz. “Wimbledon semifinal, great match against Alcaraz. Now the tournament after Wimbledon he’s in semifinal.

“I know he have a great level, but here it’s tough to serve against. Here there is no tennis at all. But, in general, he had unbelievable level. He have tough matches against top players, and he’s beating most of the players.”

On the fast Toronto court, Fritz was nearly flawless on serve at the start of the second set. The 6’5” American tore through 16 of his first 17 service points, stamping three love holds in a row, at the start of the second set. Fritz broke for 5-4. 

The second seed’s only real stumble came when he served for the semifinal at 5-4. Despite successive aces that helped him earn match point, Fritz missed his normally reliable backhand. 

Rublev saved a match point then exploited a double fault and netted backhand breaking to level the second set at 5-all.

A frustrated Fritz dropped his Head racquet to the court and screamed at his box in his only show of angst of the evening.

The Rublev forehand remains one of the biggest in the game, but the Russian’s biggest weapon betrayed him early in the tiebreaker. Rublev missed two forehands in the first three points as Fritz took a 3-0 lead. 

Launching a 137 mph missile down the middle, Fritz went up 5-2. Though Rublev ripped a diagonal forehand to close to 4-5 he missed a mind-numbing forehand into net to hand the American a second match point. 

This time, Fritz made no mistake cracking his 20th ace of the night to seal his 20th hard-court win of the year.

Carlos Alcaraz can become World No.1 already after 2025 US Open: all details inside

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2025 US Open

If he participated in the Toronto Masters 1000, Carlos Alcaraz would have had a chance to get closer to Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings. The world No. 1 was the first to announce his absence in Canada, having to recharge his batteries after winning the Wimbledon title for the first time in his career.

A few days later, the 22-year-old Spaniard made the same decision having played many matches in recent months. The five-time Grand Slam champion made it to the bottom of every tournament, lifting his second trophy in a row at Roland Garros and reaching another final at Church Road (lost to his top rival in four sets).

The world number 2 will return to action in Cincinnati and will use this tournament as a test in view of the US Open, where he had a disastrous run last year being eliminated already in the second round.

The rivalry continues

Sinner will have to defend 3000 points between Cincinnati and the US Open, in addition to losing the 200 points obtained in Montreal last year.

This means that Alcaraz has a real chance to overtake his top rival already by the end of the summer, but to succeed in this feat he would have to win the title in both Ohio and New York.

The Italian ace will have many more points to defend than the Spanish star even in the latter part of the season, considering that he had triumphed at the Shanghai Masters 1000 and the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin in 2024.

Carlos – on the contrary – had not particularly shone in the second half of last season, except for his victory at the Beijing ATP 500 beating Jannik at the end of a truly spectacular final.

This rivalry is set to electrify fans in the second half of 2025 as they wait to see if any other players can become dangerous to their dominance. The general feeling is that these two young champions are taking tennis into a new dimension, creating a huge gap compared to all their opponents.

European Young Masters, Germany triumphs

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advisor , and captain

Italy (Matteo Manini, Anita Marrone, Alice Alexandra Negroni, Leonardo Zanardi) finished 14th with a score of 663 (220, 220, 223, +15) in the European Young Masters, which concluded on the par-72 Golf du Racing Club de France – La Boulie course in Versailles, France. Germany won with a score of 635 (214, 210, 211, -13), ahead of defending title holders France, who finished second with a score of 640 (-8), and the Czech Republic, third with a score of 642 (-6). Spain and England finished fourth with a score of 643 (-5).

European Young Masters, results

In the men's individual rankings, Czech Stepan Plasek (204 – 67 68 69, -12) took the win, leading the race, leaving Germany's Colin Barmann and Bjarne Murr and Switzerland's Kai Notteboom (208, -8) four strokes behind. In fifth place was Spain's Samuel Love Li with a score of 209 (-7), Zanardi (Croara) in 31st with a score of 224 (72 71 81, +8), and Manini (Le Fonti) in 41st with a score of 228 (75 79 74, +12).

In the women's race, England's Ellie Lichtenhein prevailed with a score of 213 (70 70 73, -3), ahead of compatriot Annabel Peaford and France's Axelle Guillemard and Salomè Lumbaca (215, -1). Spain's Adriana Garcia Terol and Denmark's Jessica Dyreskov finished fifth with a score of 217 (+1), while Negroni (Villa Condulmer) finished 12th with a score of 222 (73, 74, 75, +6), and Marrone (Turin) finished 22nd with a score of 228 (79, 75, 74, +12). Coach Alessandro Bandini, an advisor, and captain Giovanni Bartoli, accompanied the Italians.

The last Italian victory in the event, now in its 30th edition, was achieved by Natalia Aparicio in 2023 (with Italy finishing second in the team event) in the women's individual event, twenty-five years after Diana Luna, who won the title in 1998, preceded by Barbara Paruscio, in the inaugural tournament in 1995, and Giulia Sergas (1997).

Italy has also won the Nations Cup four times (1997, 1998, 2007, 2012) and three men's individual titles with Roberto Paolillo (1997), Matteo Manassero (2007), and Renato Paratore (2012).

Italy ranks fourth in national team victories with four, preceded by Spain and Germany with eight, and France with five. The Czech Republic follows with three, Finland, and Sweden with one.

Fritz: Comparing Unbelievable Sinner to Unpredictable Alcaraz

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US Open finalist Taylor Fritz on differences between the world's top two reigning Grand Slam champions.Australian Open

By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Friday, July 11, 2025
Photo credits: Jon Buckle/ROLEX

Confronting reigning Grand Slam champions Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in a major is a devastating degree of difficulty.

US Open finalist Taylor Fritz has faced the the world's top two players in Grand Slams and offered unique insight into the similarities and differences of the two superstars.

Tennis Express

Together, reigning US Open and Australian Open champion Sinner and Roland Garros and Wimbledon winner Alcaraz have combined to capture the last six straight Grand Slam championships.

World No. 1 Sinner will square off against two-time Wimbledon winner Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday at 4 p.m.

After bowing to Alcaraz in a fierce four-setter in today's semifinals, Fritz, who fell to Sinner in the US Open final last September, was asked to compare the challenges each man represents.

The fifth-seeded Fritz said Sinner is an "unbelievable" ball striker, while Alcaraz is the most "unpredictable" player in the sport. 

"I'd say I felt pretty comfortable from the ground with Jannik when we played in Turin. I think Jannik typically has a bigger serve, so it's tougher to get in on his return games," Fritz said after losing to Alcaraz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) in today's first semifinal. "For me, from the ground I think I had more success rallying and playing with Jannik because he plays a bit flatter, and it's a little bit more predictable. He's unbelievable at what he does playing from the baseline.

"I think Carlos is a little more unpredictable with the slicing and the coming to net and the dropshots. Carlos has a lot of different ways to play.

"I also think Carlos, one thing he does, when he whips his forehand cross, there's a lot of movement away, which is difficult. Jannik is more through the court, which for some people… Just depends who you're playing."

Rocking the red clay with fearless drives, Alcaraz fought off three championship points, battled back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his life and out-dueled Sinner 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2) to successfully defend his Roland Garros title in a dazzling and epic final last month.

The longest French Open final in history was a five hour, 29-minute thrill ride that will go down as a match for the ages.

Prior to that final, Hall of Famer Andre Agassi summed up the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry as "the best pure ball striker versus the flying saucer."

Today, Fritz said both champions generate massive "raw power" and suggested he'd probably prefer playing the world No. 1—primarily because Alcaraz's speed and versatility is so unsettling.

"For me personally, I'd rather probably deal with the flat one than the ball that's working away from me," Fritz said. "They both generate a lot of just, like, raw power. But I think for me it's a little more uncomfortable to play Carlos just because of the unpredictability of what he's going to do.

"I think I play a lot off of anticipation. You never know what Carlos might just hit like a short kicker and serve and volley on like a 15-30 or something like that, which I feel like if I'm playing Jannik, that's something that's probably not going to happen."

The greatest similarity between the world's top two?

The 27-year-old Fritz said it's a major educational experience to face either champion in a Grand Slam match.

"Every time I play these guys, I learn a lot about what I need to do to improve and get better," Fritz said. "Moving ahead, I just want to keep working on the things that are going to get me better, that are going to help me compete with these guys because at the end of the day, my ultimate goal is to win a slam. I think I'm going to have to at some point beat these guys to do it. It's obviously a tough ask.

"Like I said, if I keep putting myself in these situations and playing them, I learn more about my game and what I need to do differently and what I need to do better to get to that level."