Taylor Fritz is bidding to become the first American man to win a Grand Slam singles title for over 20 years when he begins his 2026 ATP Tour campaign.
The last American man to win a major singles title was Andy Roddick, who won the 2003 US Open.
Standing in Fritz’s way are two seemingly impenetrable forces in the form of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – two players who have won the last eight Grand Slams combined.
Fritz has beaten Sinner once in five attempts – at the 2021 Indian Wells Masters. The American has never beaten Alcaraz in an ATP Tour event, but did defeat the world number one at the Laver Cup this year.
If Fritz is to win a major honour in the future, he will likely need to beat both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
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Rennae Stubbs, a former world number one in doubles, has stated the change Fritz could make to close the gap to Alcaraz and Sinner.
Rennae Stubbs says Taylor Fritz should change his coach and improve his net game
Taylor Fritz has worked with Michael Russell since 2021. Russell, a former player, won the ATP Coach of the Year award for 2024.
Paul Annacone, who was Pete Sampras’ long-time coach, joined Taylor Fritz’s coaching team in 2018.
Rennae Stubbs, a winner of 66 WTA doubles titles, has concluded that it may be time for Fritz to move to a new coach in order to take his game to the next level.
“I love Michael Russell,” Stubbs said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
“I think he has done the most unbelievable job and Paul Annacone. They have done an amazing job with him.
“I think maybe it’s time for him to look for a new coach. I have said it before. I think Michael has done an amazing job, and he will get picked up in a nano-second from a player.
“But I think he just needs to add something extra and I have talked about it, his net play needs to get better.”
Stubbs expanded on her point, arguing that Fritz could improve his net game.
She said: “It can get better. It has got to get better. If he wants to beat Carlos and Jannik over best of five he has to get better at the net. That is where Carlos and Jannik differentiate themselves from the rest.
“They hit the ball so well from the back of the court, but they can play at the net. They will finish a point at the net if they must. Taylor can’t do that. That is an area he can improve by far. He has the serve, he has the groundstrokes, he is moving unbelievably, he has got grit and tenacity.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
“He tries to get better but if he does not improve his net play he will not win those types of matches against those players.”
Taylor Fritz’s 2025 ATP record
Fritz, 28, has won two ATP Tour events this year on grass, capturing titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.
He has a 53-23 win-loss record for the year, picking up $5,456,536 in prize money.
Fritz has now won 10 ATP Tour titles in his career and earned $28,433,481 in prize money.
However, his ranking did fall slightly compared to last season. At the end of the 2024 ATP Tour season, Fritz was ranked fourth in the world. Now he is ranked sixth.
