Carlos Alcaraz saved two match points and came back from a set down to beat Taylor Fritz 6-7 (10-12), 7-5, 6-3 in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time and deciding the final place at the season-ending ATP Finals.
The world number two looked beaten when Fritz led 5-3 in the second set and stood twice on the verge of victory. Alcaraz refused to go away, won four games in a row to take the set, and then controlled the decider to complete a comeback that lasted two hours and 43 minutes in Paris.
Fritz’s defeat ended the American’s hopes of reaching the ATP Finals in Turin. Instead, the eighth and last place at the year-end event goes to Alcaraz’s Spanish compatriot Rafael Jodar, who will make his debut at the finals after a remarkable first season on tour.
FAKTA
- Result: Carlos Alcaraz beat Taylor Fritz 6-7 (10-12), 7-5, 6-3 in the Paris Masters quarter-final on Friday, 6 November 2026.
- The escape: Alcaraz saved two match points in the second set — one on his own serve at 3-5 and one on Fritz’s serve at 5-4 — before winning four straight games to take the set 7-5.
- Milestone: First Paris Masters semi-final for Alcaraz in six appearances at the event; he faces Casper Ruud on Saturday.
- ATP Finals: Fritz’s loss hands the final Turin place to 20-year-old Rafael Jodar. The finals run from 15 to 22 November at the Inalpi Arena in Turin.
- Head to head: Alcaraz now leads Fritz 7-1, with the American still waiting for only a second win in their eight meetings.
Two points from defeat
The match turned on the closing games of the second set. Fritz had taken a tense first-set tie-break 12-10 and then broke serve to move 5-3 ahead, with the finishing line in sight. The first match point came with Alcaraz serving to stay in the match, and the Spaniard saved it by charging to the net. The second arrived on Fritz’s own serve at 5-4, after a sharp exchange of reflex volleys at the net, and Alcaraz answered it with a passing shot winner.
From there the momentum never returned to Fritz. Alcaraz broke back, levelled the set at 5-5 and won it 7-5. In the decider he broke in the fourth game, moved 4-1 ahead and closed out the match with a powerful forehand. The final numbers told the story of a contest that was almost dead level: Alcaraz won 118 points to Fritz’s 116, struck 44 winners and eight aces, and converted four of his nine break-point chances.
Alcaraz fought back from two match points down to reach his first Paris Masters semi-final.
A semi-final six years in the making
Paris has long been the one Masters event to resist Alcaraz. He had never gone beyond the quarter-finals here in five previous visits, and he arrived in the last eight having played only one match all week after Matteo Berrettini withdrew from their third-round meeting with arm pain. Against Fritz, that lack of court time showed early, as the American’s serve and forehand pushed him to the edge of defeat.
The win sets up a Saturday semi-final against Casper Ruud, who beat Nuno Borges 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in his quarter-final. Ben Shelton meets Luca Van Assche in the other semi-final, with the winners contesting Sunday’s final. For Alcaraz, a maiden Paris title would cap a season in which he has already collected four tour-level trophies and confirmed his place among the eight men heading to Turin.
Jodar takes the last ticket to Turin
The result mattered far beyond the Paris draw. Fritz, ranked 12th in the world, needed to beat Alcaraz to overtake Jodar in the race for the final ATP Finals place. His defeat means Jodar, who started the year ranked 168th and only made his tour-level debut this season, becomes the first man ever to reach the ATP Finals in his debut year on tour.
The eight-man field for Turin is now complete: Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils, Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe and Jodar. The finals begin on 15 November, and Jodar will arrive there as the story of the season — a player who began January outside the world’s top 150 and will end it among the eight best in the game. More tennis coverage is available on Watan News.
