"They are a fraction quicker" - Nick Lester and Barry Cowan pinpoint part of Fritz's game which elevates him below Alcaraz and Sinner

Taylor Fritz has established himself as one of the best tennis players in the world in recent years, cementing his statement with an excellent backend to 2024, where he reached the US Open and ATP Finals final. However, on both occasions, he was beaten by Jannik Sinner, with there being growing concerns from tennis fans that he is not at the level to compete with Sinner or his rival Carlos Alcaraz.

The duo has dominated the ATP Tour in the last two years, sweeping aside anyone who would dare to challenge them. Sinner has doubled his Grand Slam collection to four with titles in Melbourne and Wimbledon, and has only lost one match in which he has not played Alcaraz - Halle Open against Alexander Bublik.

Alcaraz has also excelleld this year, winning seven titles from a possible nine finals, including the other two Grand Slams Sinner failed to clinch. With his recent US Open triumph, he has propelled himself once more above the Italian in the rankings to number one in the world.

It is hard to find many players to challenge these two on a consistent basis. Even the great Novak Djokovic has only managed one win against the pair this year, having reached four Grand Slam semi-finals. The caveat is that he is 38-years-old, meaning that there needs to be new challengers cropping up in the game.

Nick Lester and Barry Cowan were on commentating duty on Fritz's hard-fought win over Nuno Borges in the Japan Open. While not at his best, the American managed to do just enough to confirm his place in the quarter-finals in Tokyo.

The pair traded breaks of serve early, before Fritz stole a late break in the first set to win it 75, and take a slender advantage. Borges went on to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, saving three break points in that period. The world number five levelled it at 3-3, before once more trading breaks. Fritz would then squander two match points, as the Portuguese star forced a tense tiebreaker. In the end, Fritz showed his class, winning four of the last five points to send him through.

In this tie, there was a specific point that Lester latched onto, instantly shining light on why Fritz cannot be compared yet to Alcaraz or Sinner.

“That last point is where he is just shy of the top two," Lester said. "I don’t think Alcaraz and Fritz would have to take a hand off there and if they did I probably think there’s a real chance they’ll still win the point. He’s just a fraction slower in terms of getting out of the corners. That ability to stop and start. He’s a good athlete, he’s a lot better than he was.”

Cowan followed this by saying: “Can I also say, they are a fraction quicker because he’s a good athlete, they are phenomenal athletes.”

The American number one recently got a key straight sets win over Alcaraz in the Laver Cup, helping Team World to their third triumph. A few months ago, he stated that the Spaniard was a tougher opponent than Sinner, despite failing to beat the Italian since 2021, losing the previosu four meetings while only claiming one set.

Before Wimbledon, in an interview with The Guardian, Fritz said: “I’d say Carlos is the harder opponent for me but I have to add the caveat that when we played in the Laver Cup I ran into the on-fire version of him where it just feels like there’s nothing you can do. So even though obviously Sinner has gotten me several times, pretty routinely, at least in those matches I felt like I could play tennis.”

There is a high possibility that the pair could meet once more in Tokyo, with Alcaraz and Fritz on a collision course for the final. Fritz will have to get past fellow American Sebastian Korda in the quarter-finals first, then one of Holger Rune or Jenson Brooksby to make it to his third tour final of the year.