Fritz beats Medvedev to open 2024 ATP Finals campaign

Making his second appearance at the ATP Finals, Taylor Fritz opened his 2024 campaign Sunday with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Daniil Medvedev. Returning to the Turin season finale as the world No. 6, the American's victory bolstered his bid to leapfrog the 2021 US Open champion for world No. 4 in the year-end rankings—a position that would be a new career-high.

Now 50-21 on the season, the US Open finalist has hit the 50-wins mark for the second straight year. He is the first American man to notch 50 wins in consecutive seasons since James Blake in 2006-07.

Fritz saved all three break points he faced against Medvedev and won 85% of his first-serve points (33/39) with the help of nine aces against one of the game's best returners.

“[The serve] was a big part of it for sure,” the 27-year-old said post-match. “He’s such a good returner. You can make a lot of first serves, but if they are not very high quality, he just puts so many returns in the court.

“It was huge for me. I hit a lot of lines, a lot of spots to start out games. I got out of a lot of service games [with] no pressure. Some of the ones we got tight in, I was either able to grind through the long rallies or get myself some free points.”

Drawn into the Ilie Nastase Group alongside Medvedev, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Aussie Alex de Minaur, Fritz is hoping to advance to the knockout rounds for the second time in as many ATP Finals appearances. The American beat Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the semifinals in 2022, bowing out to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in two tiebreaks.