ATP Finals: Fritz beats Zverev, becomes first American to reach the title match in 18 years

Taylor Fritz became the first American to reach the ATP Finals title match since James Blake in 2006 on Saturday after overcoming Alexander Zverev in three sets.

The 27-year-old American fought past World No. 2 Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3) in a Turin thriller two-hour, 20-minute.

The 27-year-old American and fifth seed produced a high-class serving display, struck 32 winners and became the first player to break Zverev’s serve this week.

“I felt like I played an almost perfect first set, but things can change so quickly when you’re playing someone like Sascha,” Fritz said. “I found myself in some tough spots in the third, when we both started to get on each other’s serves even more.

“When I was trying to be aggressive I didn’t feel like it was doing much. I just told myself at the end that I had to fight and be solid and tried to take care of my serve the best I could and give him absolutely nothing from the back.”

Fritz has now won his past four matches against Zverev, who made three critical errors in the third-set tie-break, and leads the German 7-5 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Into his fifth final of the season, the World No. 5 will aim to win the biggest title of his career when he takes on Italian Jannik Sinner or Norwegian Casper Ruud on Sunday evening.