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Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz rushed over when a ball girl took a tumble early in their Paris Masters quarter-final. Fritz was serving under pressure at 2-2 (30-30) when a ball kid ran back to the corner to assume her position, but seemed to lose her footing and fell down. Photographers and other staff in the corner quickly came to her aid. Fritz had been about to serve, but when he realised what happened, he came straight over, and Alcaraz crossed the net to check on her too.
It’s the second day running that a ball kid has hurt themselves during a match in Paris. On Thursday evening, a ball girl was hit in the face after Fritz hit a serve against Arthur Fils. The ball rebounded off the backboard and made contact with her. She tried to shake it off but became emotional, and Fils walked over to help her off the court.
“I think the ball girl twisted her ankle or something,” commentator Daniela Hantuchova said as the ball girl fell and landed on the ground during the Alcaraz vs Fritz clash. “That’s back-to-back Taylor Fritz matches that a ball girl has gotten injured,” Adam Fielder replied.
Hantuchova noted that it happened in the same corner, and Fielder added: “Yeah, it was. It was yesterday; she actually got hit by a ball off a Taylor Fritz serve. But I don’t know what happened here. Obviously just twisted her ankle. Bless her. Just going to be a little bit of a delay while she gets the treatment that she needs. I think she’s alright.”
The ball girl in question was quickly helped off the court as others crowded around to make sure she was covered as she began to try. Another ball kid came over to take up that position in the corner of the court. After the brief delay, Alcaraz returned to his end of the court and Fritz prepared to serve again as the umpire called the score at 30-30. And the second seed kicked into action.
Alcaraz nailed a backhand that Fritz couldn’t get back into play, and then ripped a forehand winner to claim the first break of the match. The Spaniard found himself in a bit of trouble a couple of games later, but saved three break points to move ahead to 5-3.
The world No. 3 came within two points of taking the set in the next game, but Fritz successfully held serve to close the gap to 5-4. And as Alcaraz served for the set, he blinked and the American broke back to love.
Fritz then came within two points of winning the set on Alcaraz’s serve, but the 23-year-old held to force a tiebreak. They traded mini-breaks several times, while set points came and went for both men – some on their own serves, some not. Finally, after more than an hour on court, Fritz took the opening set 7-6(10) when Alcaraz sent the ball wide.
This was the eighth meeting between Alcaraz and Fritz, and their quarter-final match was delayed when the day session ran long. Organisers had to clear out the daytime ticket holders and bring in those with night session tickets before play could begin.
They took to the court almost an hour later than planned. It was a crucial match for the ATP Finals, as the result decided who got the final spot in Turin.
Earlier in the day, Ben Shelton beat Tommy Paul. That result meant that another American, Frances Tiafoe, qualified for the year-end championships for the first time in his career. Tiafoe joined Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz, Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, and Fils.
Only Fritz and Rafael Jodar were left in contention for the remaining place, and Fritz’s fate was in his own hands. A win over Alcaraz would seal his place in Turin, while a defeat would send Jodar into the ATP Finals.
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