T. FRITZ/C. Alcaraz
6-3, 6-2
Team Europe - 3
Team World - 7
THE MODERATOR: Taylor, what a win against world No. 1, and now Team World are 7-3 up. Tell us about the match.
TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I think I had a pretty clear idea of what I needed to do going out there. Just how the court is, how the conditions are, it's really slow out there, so I felt like I had to press a little more with just my rally ball just to up my rally ball that I'm hoping to be very consistent with, because if I didn't, I felt like he was going to beat me to the punch and hurt me.
I felt like it was going to be very hard on a surface like this for me to hurt him versus -- I felt like it was going to be very easy for him to put me out of position, as opposed to me being able to put him out of position. So I did a really good job with that.
Going into it I kind of just accepted that if I make errors, I make errors, but it was going to give me the best chance to win. I did a really good job of hitting big, doing it consistently, and kind of pulling the trigger when I got the right balls to do it on and, you know, playing the important points pretty fearlessly.
THE MODERATOR: Let's have some questions.
Q. Taylor, you've played for Captain John and now for Captain Andre. How attributable is his enthusiasm on the sideline to your victory?
TAYLOR FRITZ: It's awesome to see him fired up. To be honest, I feel like it's been the same -- it's impossible to see either Johnny Mac or Andre getting pumped up during the match and not also really have that fire you up as well.
I mean, both of them have been very into it on the bench, which I mean, I love. It's tennis legends that are there getting excited about me playing.
Q. When you won, you kind of, like, looked at the team and raised your arms like that. Was that like a "that's how you do it" or "I can't believe I did that"?
TAYLOR FRITZ: More just like, I did it. You know, that's it.
Q. I told I would do it, and I did it?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Like here we go, yeah.
Q. You said, I knew what I had to do. The question was whether I was going to be able to do it. You hadn't beaten him before, going into it 0-3. What are you thinking, that you were close before, and if I just had not lost my serve in those first games, that it would be okay?
TAYLOR FRITZ: The thing is, like, I definitely take a lot of confidence from the Wimbledon match, because it was very tight, but at the same time, Wimbledon match, you know, I kind of threw away the first set by getting broken in the first game.
I felt like in that Wimbledon match the set that I won, the set that I had the set points in were two sets that I was really happy with how I played. So I obviously took a lot of confidence from that.
But I also at the same time know that those conditions are way better for me in this matchup than these conditions. I did feel like I would have to play with a lot more risk today than I did in that Wimbledon match.
You know, a very good example of kind of what I'm talking about is if anyone wants to look at the 15-30 point of the first game and then the first point of the second game. Points where I pull the trigger on the forehand inside in, and I think I hit it great.
If I'm on a faster surface, I probably get some reward out of it, but on this surface the first one he hits a clean winner on. The second one he rips across. Might as well have been a clean winner.
I can get burned on this court a lot if I pull the trig other the wrong ball, and it ends up that he is so fast and good on the run, you know, he ends up hurting me. I really had to take more risk with my rally balls to just not be on defense all the time.
Q. (Off microphone.)
TAYLOR FRITZ: At what point?
Q. Of that first break point.
TAYLOR FRITZ: 15-40, yes, but 15-30 I hit a forehand inside in about as good as I could possibly hit it, and then he hit a winner off of it.
Q. You've had some great wins in your career. I'm thinking about Rafa at Indian Wells and getting to your first slam final in New York. I have to imagine this match ranks up there with the very great wins in your career, is that right?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, I mean, I think I take almost more pride in this one, because I feel like I -- start to finish like I won it and I earned it. I didn't really win any of the -- I think a lot of the decisive points in the match weren't so much off of, like, him giving it to me. I felt like I made it happen in those moments.
I, yeah, just start to finish played an amazing match, and I went out and I took it.
Q. To that point, just to follow up, to play Carlos a fourth time here today, was it a difference in execution? Was it a difference in tactics for you? What do you think allows you to get through in a moment like this? Did you have to change the game plan, or did you just execute the little things better?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, yeah, execution is a massive part of it. The one thing that I did today that I think I've struggled with against some of the guys, the top guys in the past, was just really trusting it on the big points, pulling the trigger, not having that doubt of like, Oh, I don't want to give him a freebie on a big point, so I'm going to play it a little safer, which I said I think that works against 90% of people. But against the top guys, they're not just going to give you those big points.
I think that was one of the biggest takeaways I learned in the Wimbledon match. I had two forehands on big points in the fourth set tiebreaker that I was a little too safe on, because I didn't want to just spray one. I wish I could go back and just rope it. If I miss, I miss. I think I did a good job of really committing to that today.
Yeah, like I said, I raised my average just rally ball speed, and on another day that could obviously just end in me leaking way too many unforced errors and giving way too many free points. That's happened in the past in certain matchups where I kind of overplay a bit.
Like I said, because of the nature of the conditions of how slow it is, I did feel like I was forced to.
Q. Obviously you're still top 5. You're America's best, but there have been a few bumps in the road this season. Just feelings-wise, how does it feel to score this incredible win, packed stadium, teammates, No. 1? What are your feelings?
TAYLOR FRITZ: Yeah, it's such an amazing moment. I'll say it again. I think what really does it for me is not the win itself. It's just how I played. It's just the level. It's taking advantage of those big moments, pulling the trigger, just going out and taking it.
You know, I think I win a lot of matches from kind of, like, just serving and pushing (smiling). I think that it's kind of been my joke this year that I'm a bot that pushes.
This is the tennis that I want to play. Yeah, it makes me so happy to play at that level. I'm hoping this can be a sign of things to come as far as just me being able to just trust in the big moments.
Q. Taylor, you've been talking about your rally balls and your rally ball speeds, but you came in 20 times in a two-set match that was 3-2, and I definitely saw you rush in some situations that you might not have in the past. Was that part of the strategy going in, or was that just something you felt?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, a big part of -- I didn't want Carlos to be able to feel like he could float balls back, because again, in faster conditions, I think I would be fine with that because I would feel like maybe I can, like, still hurt him off of the floaters, but it's so dead and slow here. If he floats a ball back and I let it bounce, he'll get back in the point. I'm not going to be able to put enough on that dead ball to actually, like, keep control of the point. So I felt like I didn't really have a choice.
Then, also, I've been saying this for a long time. My coach as well. When I'm hitting my forehand big and I'm hitting the ball big, it's just much easier to follow it in. You take off a couple of miles per hour on a lot of those approach shots I hit, and I'll probably get passed or I'll probably have a much tougher volley.
So I think being really aggressive the back, hitting the ball really big just opens up more opportunities for me to actually come forward. It just felt more natural.
Q. Just a general question. I'm not sure how much this might have factored into today's match, but generally for both of you, when we talk about team tennis, we always hear that the rankings sometimes go out the window, the head-to-heads go out the window. Do you think that's true, and why do you think that might be the case? Maybe it has to do with the match today or just generally that concept.
TAYLOR FRITZ: I definitely don't think the head-to-heads go out the window on the team events. I mean, I think in this event a lot of times teams line up in a certain way. You match up how you want to match up. I would say those teams usually typically have the advantage.
There's definitely room for more weird things to happen, again, because I'll say just the conditions of the court, it's so slow. I would absolutely hate to play someone like Fran on this court. He generates so much pace off of a dead ball. He's so good from the back. He returns so well. He is an absolute nightmare to play in conditions like this.
Yeah, it definitely favors some people more than others, but just the team atmosphere definitely also brings out a lot of energy in a lot of people. I feel like I've always played great tennis at Laver Cup, Davis Cup, whatever team event, United Cup, whatever team event I play.
It's just fun to, you know, get pumped up with your team.
Q. Just curious from your perspective, when Steph Curry and Federer came out before the match, did you feel kind of the buzz and the energy kind of shift a little bit? What was it like out there with those guys?
TAYLOR FRITZ: I mean, it's pretty sick. It's pretty hard to not be really just pumped up to play a match when that's kind of like the intro to the match. You know what I mean?
Definitely no shortage of just adrenaline for this one.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports