What went wrong | Taylor Fritz | Post-match Press Conference | Wimbledon 2025

USA’s Taylor Fritz speaks after his Gentlemen’s semi-final loss to Spanish reigning champion, Carlos Alcaraz, on Centre Court at Wimbledon 2025.

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Good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference for Taylor Fritz. Please raise your hand if you would like to ask a question. Taylor, I mean, great match out there, but obviously not the result you were looking for. Just um give us your thoughts. Yeah, I mean I had I had my chances for sure. I definitely feel like uh good looks good looks in those points at uh in the in the tiebreaker to force a fifth. felt like obviously in hindsight can say all the things I should have done on those points but realistically yeah I mean I should have should have been able to get one of them force a fifth and then you know whatever happens in the fifth happens in the fifth but I thought that thought that I played a good match couple hiccups I mean first game of the match and then in the third set but the second and the fourth I definitely did exactly what I set out to do and play how I was trying, how I, you know, how I wanted to play and I thought Carlos served served exceptionally well today as well. Liam, do you think there’s anything specifically tech tactically that you could have changed to help the outcome of the match go your way? The thing is a lot of the things that I would have changed um I think would have only helped me for a point or two and then I think Carlos would have just made an adjustment and I don’t think it would have been a long-term uh answer. You know, I think I was I was not returning his first serve well at all. And part of that is because he’s I thought he served really well, like very well. And part of that is also because I know that I can’t just like make the return cuz he’ll just drill the ball open court and then I’ll lose the point. So, you know, part of me not returning great is how well he’s serving and then how I know that I need to hit a good return if I want to be able to win the point. There’s not much point of me blocking a return back and just losing the point anyway. So, I could have maybe like chipped a bit. Um, but I think, like I said, I think that only works for a point or two and then I think he started serving balling me and he’s incredibly com comfortable doing that. So, I think the long-term thing I could have done was just do what I was doing, but just return better. Um, and return more aggressively. I think that’s something I need to get a lot better at is returning aggressively. I think I return to uh I return to put balls in the court, which is great for me against most people because I can neutralize points, but against, you know, maybe him and Yannik might be the only guys, you know, if if the return isn’t good, they’re plus one is is very dangerous. Catherine, hi Taylor. Um, obviously Carlos has this crazy good five set record. Presumably the locker room is very aware of that. I didn’t know about that. I guess I guess I mean if I would have won one of those points, it would have been good that I didn’t know about that. Ben, just after having, you know, set point in the fourth set, just leaving court, do you feel closer to getting over the hurdle of of Al throw center in there too that these two guys or you feel further in some ways after that match up? What’s your that that kind of evaluation that you’re doing now? I mean, here’s here’s how I look at it. Like the first the first set I came out and I just played a bad I played a bad first game and put myself down a break instantly. And unfortunately that’s what I’ve done the last two times I played Carlos just came out and instantly put myself down a break. So that’s that’s never good. So you know and like I said a lot of I mean a lot of like watch Carlos plenty for me. I feel like that’s the best I’ve seen him serve. So tough like I’m not going to get a look to break him back. First set done. Second set did exactly what I wanted to do. Fourth set did exactly what I wanted to do. So the two sets that I played to the level that I, you know, want to be playing at, I I’m right there. And yeah, like I said, played really well in the second and the fourth, lost the fourth, but it’s there. I just need to uh you know avoid playing some the the times where the level dips a bit and then he can he can grab a break and uh just just get ahead of me. And I think uh to be fair I think it on grass is probably even though he’s such an incredible grass player, it’s probably fast is my best opportunity with Carlos. I think once the court gets slow to where I can’t hurt him, it’s going to be really tough because regardless of how slow the court is, I think he’s always going to be able to hurt me and I need the court fast enough to at least where I can I can level the field by being able to hurt him. So, I think when we played at Labor Cup, I think that was a big issue because Court was incredibly slow. I felt like I could not get him out of position, but he has so much raw power and I don’t move like he does so he can he can hurt me. So, you know, to be to be honest, I think faster is good for me, but uh yeah, given the conditions today, it was Yeah, I mean, I’m a point away from forcing a fifth. Anything Anything can happen most of. David, hi there, Taylor. Um Ben Shelton was in here after his match against Yanick a couple of days ago saying that it’s almost like playing somebody who’s playing at two times speed at times. I just want to you’ve now faced them both in big Grand Slam matches recent in the last year. Could can you compare the experience? Is one more difficult than the other for you? I’d say for me I it’s it’s just different. It’s different conditions. I felt I’d say very I felt pretty comfortable from the ground with Yannik in when we played in Trin. I think Yannik typically has a a bigger serve, so it’s it’s tougher to get in on his uh return games, but for me from the ground, I I think I had more success rallying and playing with Giannis because he plays a bit flatter and it’s a little bit more predictable. He’s 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 drop shots. There’s Carlos has a lot of different ways to play and I also think Carlos one thing he does is when he whips his forehand cross there’s a lot of movement um away which is difficult. Uh Yannx is more through the court which for some people is depends just depends on who you’re playing. Uh for me personally I’d rather probably deal with the flat one than the ball that’s that’s working away from me. But um 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 and it’s a little you never know what you know Carlos might just hit like a short kicker and serve and volley on like a 1530 or something like that which I feel like if I’m playing Yanni that like something like that’s probably not going to happen. Charlie Taylor I just wondered as well how difficult and how different it is mentally when you’re playing Carlos compared to playing the other guys. like you know you like you said you can try something but you know he’s just going to adapt like how kind of exhausting is that? Yeah. It’s like like I just said he has so many different ways to win and he’s he’s very good at making adjustments. Um he made a very he made a huge adjustment after the second set. I felt like the second set I was um like having a lot I don’t know what the actual stats were. I felt like I was having a lot of success on his second serve points. I felt like I was I felt like if he missed it first I was applying a lot of pressure winning a lot of points and then even though he was mixing it up uh quite well I thought I was that you know that’s one of the things I was the happiest with what I was doing on the court and then third set fourth set he’d randomly be hitting 1223 mph second serves and then at the same time hitting like 85 mph short kickers. So, it’s like when someone’s serving that much variety on a second serve, it’s really tough to to get on it and be aggressive and and that was a great, you know, adjustment that he made in that match was just and it’s risky. He, you know, he’s going to maybe double fault a bit more, but uh he started serving, you know, almost two first serves to me sometimes. It’s it’s a it’s a good adjustment and he has lots of different things that he can he can do and that’s that’s what’s tough about playing him. He makes adjustments and he has lots of different ways he can win. So he, you know, a lot of times I know an adjustment that I need to make, but maybe that’s just not my game, so it’s not the best best thing to do, but he he can kind of do a bit of everything. So, and he’s good at it, so he can always uh change it up to match, I guess, what you’re doing really. With what you did at the US Open last year and the way you’ve been playing lately, what’s your outlook right now ahead? I every time I I play these guys, it’s, you know, I learn a lot about what I need to do to improve and and get better. So, moving ahead, I just want to keep keep working on the things that are going to that are going to get me better, that are going to help me compete with compete with these guys because at the end of the the day, my ultimate goal is to is to win a slam. And I think I’m going to have to at some point beat these guys to do it. So, it’s it’s obviously a tough a tough ask, but like I said, I keep putting myself in these situations and playing them. Uh, I learn more about my game and what I need to do differently and what I need to do better to to get to that level. So, it’s just, you know, stay healthy. That’s the biggest thing. I’ve been dealing with, you know, a lot of injuries this year, but stay healthy and just keep trying to improve like I’ve been for couple years now. Hi Taylor. Carlos has been really complimentary about his opponents. Uh did you exchange words at the end with him? And do you think he’s one of the more humble opponents that you’ve played against? Yeah, I mean honestly I I get along very well with Carlos. I think Carlos is such a incredibly nice guy. I really like Carlos a lot. And at yeah he just said like you know great match, good level. It’s a good match and you know I said you know congrats to you. too good and you know best of luck moving forward just kind of I mean pretty standard but you know he you know acknowledged that it was you know it was a good match. It was a it was a pretty solid level being played and yeah I don’t know I think uh pretty standard stuff but I yeah I mean I will say I get you know we we get along quite well. Yeah, good run. Um, Carlos has so many great qualities, but if you could just narrow it down to say two or three of the the great qualities that make him so special. I mean, I’m really impressed with, like I said before, just his his ability to to win so many different ways, play so many different type of styles. Um, I’m incredibly impressed with how just how good his touch is around the net, like pressure points, big points. He’s making, you know, just like serving volley, like little touch volleys look like, you know, looks like he’s never going to miss it, like he can do it all day. And it’s it it’s not easy to hit those kind of uh delicate shots under pressure. So, that’s that’s really impressive. And then uh I don’t know. I mean, he just does everything does everything uh so well. I think for a long time, people said, you know, his serve is one of the weaker parts of his game. There’s zero weakness with his serve. The way he’s serving today, there’s, you know, he’s hitting all the spots. He’s serving the same serve speeds as as me throughout the entire match. Like, he’s, you know, really impressed with how much he’s improved to serve. Okay, last one. Ben want to ask the center to none as of right now. I’m just curious having just played Hawkeye and knowing center, how do you see their match on on Sunday going if it is it is them? Really tough for me to say with uh with it just being on grass. I think if that is the final then people are in for an amazing final. I think Sar’s obviously super hungry after the French Open and Carlos going for the the three in a row is uh I mean you know that’s that’s obviously a lot of motivation and it’s a big deal and yeah I don’t know I think I think they bring out the best in each other and it’s going to come down to just like the big the big moments. It’s so it’s so tough to call it. Okay, thank you very much. Thank you.