Who will lift the Laver Cup on Day 3? Well, this answer possibly lies in the hands of Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. Both of them will take on each other in just a few hours from now. Currently, Team World leads the race against Team Europe by 8-4. Both the players have been in good form this season. Alcaraz is vying for his first taste of Laver Cup glory in his maiden appearance, but on the other hand, Fritz wants to repeat the same rituals that Team World has been doing over the last two editions. Who will win this nail-biter?
Carlos Alcaraz vs Taylor Fritz: Preview
Alcaraz was literally over the moon seeing Roger Federer watch him play in the doubles event. Although he lost his first doubles match at the Laver Cup, he came back strongly in the singles event and secured an emphatic victory against Ben Shelton. Carlos Alcaraz has already won three titles this season and guess what? Two out of those three are Grand Slam titles! However, in the 2024 US Open he faced an early exit at the hands of the Dutch tennis player, Botic van de Zandschulp. However, he looked in good touch against Shelton and now it’ll be interesting to see if he can carry forward this winning momentum in the next match.
@carlosalcaraz‘s celebrations are iconic
Can’t stop, won’t stop
#LaverCup pic.twitter.com/Y71JVVS75S
— Eurosport (@eurosport) September 22, 2024
Taylor Fritz on the other hand is having a dream run on the Tour this year. Previously he won the titles at the Delray Beach Open and Eastbourne International and then recently he also made it through to the finals at the US Open. Fritz has already set the tone of this match by stating, “When I’m in tournaments, I’m very focused on everything, I’m a different person.” His performance in the previous match against Alexander Zverev is a testament to how serious he is about this tournament. He literally dominated every aspect of the game against the German. Can he come up with a similar dominating performance against the Spaniard?
Alcaraz vs Fritz: Head-to-Head
Well, interestingly Carlos Alcaraz has faced Taylor Frits only once in his career. The 21-year-old Spanish superstar currently leads the H2H scoreline by a 1-0 margin. Will Taylor Fritz look for revenge in this match at the Uber Arena
- 2023 Miami Open QF: Alcaraz 6-4,6-2.
Prediction: Alcaraz to win in straight sets
This might be Carlos Alcaraz’s first appearance at the Laver Cup. It’s true that he faced a disappointing loss against a lower-ranked opponent at the US Open, but how can we rule out a 4-time Grand Slam champion? Especially someone who has won two of those titles in this season itself? We know Taylor Fritz is also in red-hot form and his performance at the US Open and even in the first match at the Laver Cup was quite exceptional, but still, when it comes to big occasions, Carlos Alcaraz always steps up. We’re expecting the same from him for his team this time.
Alcaraz is currently ranked third in the world and has a win-loss record of 37-8 this season. On the other hand, Fritz is now ranked seventh in the men’s singles ranking and he has a win-loss record of 43-16. So, both are Top 10 players and we can expect some fireworks in this match. Carlos Alcaraz is an all-court player with an aggressive baseline game. Taylor Fritz is also an offensive baseliner.
Now if we take a closer look at their playing styles. Alcaraz tends to hit a lot of winners with the help of strong and precise forehand shits. He even has a strong backhand which can put his opponents into some real trouble. However, apart from all of these things, Taylor Fritz needs to also watch out for Alcaraz’s incredible drop shots. The Spaniard is often seen pushing his opponents back into the court into a defensive position before coming up with his extremely disguising drop shots. His court coverage is also quite exceptional!
Taylor Fritz on the other hand has powerful groundstrokes in his armory which has the ability to force errors out of his opponents. His most lethal shot is his forehand. However, his flat and lower bouncing backhand shots are well capable of causing a few troubles for Carlos Alcaraz. However, Fritz is not as comfortable at the net as compared to playing his groundstrokes from the baseline. Even Fritz has a good top spin-lob shot. He can also create sharp-angle cross-court shots on both forehand and backhand. However, since Alcaraz has a better record of delivering at crucial moments, we can say he’s most likely going to be the favorite in this match.
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