De Minaur does his part by beating Fritz in straight sets — Now he’ll be cheering for Alcaraz… Whom he just helped qualify
Alex de Minaur secured the first victory of his career at the ATP Finals against Taylor Fritz (7-6, 6-3). The Australian, after two losses, will qualify for the semi-finals if Alcaraz beats Musetti tonight (8:30 PM).
Alex de Minaur, ATP Finals 2025 | © Action Plus / PsNewz
After looking so dejected on Tuesday evening following his defeat to Musetti — while Fritz was busy discussing his bold, almost cocky match against Alcaraz — few would have imagined De Minaur could still be in contention for the semi-finals in Turin. Having lost all five of his previous matches across two editions, the Australian was hardly the favourite in his final group match against Fritz.
Yet he delivered, beating the American in straight sets — the only result that could keep his hopes alive in the Jimmy Connors Group.
Now, De Minaur will be watching Musetti vs. Alcaraz without overthinking the possible scenarios: if Musetti wins, the Italian will advance to the last four with two victories and one defeat, joining Alcaraz, who is already qualified thanks to De Minaur’s win.
Alcaraz’s options
If Alcaraz beats Musetti, then De Minaur will join him in the semi-finals. The Spaniard, for his part, has every reason to fight – a win would secure him the year-end world No. 1 ranking. A loss would still send him into the semi-finals… but against Jannik Sinner, in what would effectively be a “final” for the top spot in the ATP rankings.
The result also makes Taylor Fritz the second player eliminated from this year’s ATP Finals, after his fellow American Ben Shelton, who went out in the other group.
“He’s never been my favorite person to play because I think, one, he moves so well, but he doesn’t play very defensive against me, Fritz said. I watch him play other matches. Sometimes I feel like he is willing to rally, play a bit safer. And I feel like he plays very, like, offensive against me. His ball stays very flat and low. It can sometimes be tough to attack off that ball if I’m not feeling great with my forehand.”
“The times I’ve beaten him, I’ve felt good attacking. A lot of times that I’ve lost to him, I haven’t been able to just hit the forehand off flat low ball that he hits well enough. Yeah, that’s part of it. He moves so well, but at the same time I can’t just be steady because he also has the capabilities of being very aggressive, too, taking the ball early.”
