He did indeed, in a performance that Knowles also called “pure magic.” The American won 80% of the points on his first serve and was never broken, while breaking the Spaniard three times.
Entering the match with 13 consecutive match wins, Alcaraz never was able to find the extra gear to overcome a charging Fritz. He made 19 unforced errors in 17 games, while Fritz only made 10 (to go along with 17 winners).
“The other three times I’ve played Carlos, he’s broken me first game every single time,” Fritz continued. “That’s not how you want to start against someone like him. Getting out of that first game was huge, and just playing a lot of the big points with conviction.
“I didn’t second-guess myself. I didn’t play too safe. I played with no fear on a lot of the big points.”
