Alexander Zverev has lost his last four matches against Taylor Fritz and he admitted that his latest defeat against the American “will hurt more than the other few”.
The German extended his head-to-head record against Fritz to 5-3 when he won their quarter-final clash at the Italian Open in May this year.
However, the American has surged past him as he now leads the H2H 7-5 following victories at Wimbledon, the US Open, Laver Cup and most recently the ATP Finals.
Zverev was the favourite in most of those clashes, but came up short each time against the big-serving Fritz.
The German knows he needs to come up with a plan for his next encounter against the new world No 4.
“He’s an uncomfortable player for me. I think it’s no secret. I think there are players that are more comfortable for some opponents and there are players that are less comfortable,” Zverev said.
“I talked to Carlos about it, which is funny. I mean, I think we have quite a good relationship, quite a good friendship. It’s funny, his very, very comfortable opponents are the complete opposite to me. His uncomfortable opponents are the complete opposite to me, as well. It’s funny how matchups work in tennis.
“For him, I think some of the most comfortable opponents is Daniil Medvedev and Taylor Fritz. For me it’s completely the opposite. He really doesn’t like playing some of the big hitters like a Jannik Sinner. He’s a great player, No 1 in the world, for sure, but I still enjoy playing him.
“It’s funny how matchups in tennis work. Not every match is the same just purely based on ranking and the higher-ranked player is going to win. That’s not how it works.”
He had his chances in the semi-final of the ATP Finals as he had three break points on the Fritz serve at 2-2 in the decider and another two at 5-5, but the American held firm.
Zverev added: “But yeah, I think this one will hurt maybe a bit more because again, as I said, I thought I played at a decent level and I had more chances generally in the third set. I felt like statistically and shot-wise, my level maybe was even higher than his until the important moments. That’s where I kind of blew it.
“This one will hurt more than the other few.”