Carlos Alcaraz makes Taylor Fritz more uncomfortable than Jannik Sinner does, but the Italian beats him at his own game. On the eve of the Bybit Stockholm Open final against Thiago Agustin Tirante, the American explained on Friday what separates him from the two men, and believes that against the Spaniard, it is above all a matter of consistency.

“I think Carlos is very uncomfortable playing due to his way of playing,” he told Bolavip. “He makes me more uncomfortable than Jannik, but Jannik will beat me more by playing my own game, which means that I feel comfortable against Jannik, but he still beats me doing it.”

Fritz pointed to their quarter-final at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he held two match points against Alcaraz. “With Carlos, I feel like there are days where I can play on that level, basically like I did in Paris, where I was in a position to beat him. I was on the same level as him in that match, so it’s definitely more in terms of the consistency.”

Sinner, whom he has not faced for a while, is harder for him to assess. “He is an amazing returner and mover and just such an elite ball striker of course.”

Fritz was speaking in Stockholm after beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes in the semi-finals. He has now reached six finals this season, a career best. On Saturday, he will face Tirante, who won their only previous meeting, 7-5, 6-3 in Montreal in August.

Fritz “still improving”

After a year and a half hampered by his knee, Fritz says he is finally making progress again. “The level I have played at the end of the year is giving me a lot of confidence that I am still improving a lot and moving in the right direction,” he said. “I can finally start fixing the things in my game that I need to fix to win a Grand Slam.” Top of his list: his transition game, and coming to the net at the right time.