Need aggressive return of serve to beat Carlos Alcaraz, admits Taylor Fritz after Wimbledon loss

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Wimbledon 2025: Taylor Fritz admitted he needed a better return of serve to trump Alcaraz. (AP)

The 27-year-old Taylor Fritz failed in his bid to become the first American man since 2009 to reach Wimbledon final, but he knows why he couldn’t defeat Carlos Alcaraz – his return of serve.

“I was not returning his first serve well at all. Part of that is because he served really well, like very well. Part of that is also because I know that I can’t just make the return because he will just drill the ball open court and then I will lose the point,” Fritz said after losing in four sets.

It’s as much his failing and a tribute to the insane pressure that Alcaraz puts on the opponents.

“I know I need to hit a good return if I want to be able to win the point, there is not much point of me blocking a return back and losing the point anyway. I could have maybe chipped a bit but I think that only works for a point or two, and then I think he starts to serve and volley me and he is incredibly comfortable doing that. I think that is something I need to get a lot better at is returning more aggressively.”

The drop shot followed by the lob 😮‍💨

A bit of @carlosalcaraz wizardry 🪄#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/DZKi1kYzHQ

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2025

Fritz admitted that Alcaraz’s game is so strong that a simple tweak here and there wouldn’t have helped. ““I think I return to put balls in the court, which is great for me against most people, because I can neutralise points but against him and Jannik [Sinner] might be the only guys, that if the return is not good their plus one is very dangerous. The thing is, a lot of the things I would have changed, I think would have only helped me for a point or two and then I think Carlos would have just made an adjustment but I don’t think it would have been a long term answer,” Fritz told reporters.

Watching him play was Andre Agassi as a commentator for BBC Sport and who had a message for him.

“Taylor, well done. You are paving the way for every American to believe they can and should expect more from themselves. You are a hell of a competitor,” Agassi said. “You deserve every bit of this. You are going to get your chances if you stay with it.”

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