'Then that's maybe something I can think about afterwards': Taylor Fritz reveals why becoming World No.1 is not his top goal - yet

America’s Taylor Fritz has shared the reason behind why becoming the world number one is not his biggest objective in the near future. The 27-year-old is already regarded as the best American player in men’s tennis, currently playing at the highest level.

Fritz is currently the world number four and is in a prime position to secure his spot in the upcoming ATP Finals, which will be played in Turin later this year. Despite being fourth in the ranking, Fritz is more than 5,000 rating points behind the world number two, Jannik Sinner and 6,000 points behind world number one, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

Currently, Fritz, who is competing in the Japan Open, has 4,995 rating points and can increase to 5,165 rating points if he wins the title. Fritz spoke to Olympics.com recently, where he shared the reason behind not thinking of becoming world number one anytime soon.

Fritz stated that his primary objective is currently to win a Grand Slam, and if he manages to do that, he will only then start thinking about becoming the world number one. “For me the first goal and the main goal is to win a Grand Slam and I think if I am able to win a Grand Slam, then that's maybe something I can think about afterwards, is trying to become the World No. 1,” said Fritz.

Fritz has achieved some impressive results at the Grand Slams in recent years. Since the start of 2024, out of the eight Grand Slams, Fritz has advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond in five of them, including the final of the US Open in 2024, where he lost to then-world number one Sinner in straight sets. This year, the first two majors turned out to be a horror dream for Fritz, who was knocked out in the third and first rounds of the Australian and the French Open.

Only handful of players will be able to beat Alcaraz, Sinner: Fritz

Things, however, improved drastically in the last two Grand Slams. At Wimbledon, Fritz was eventually knocked out after losing in the semifinal to Alcaraz with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6. At the US Open, Fritz’s journey came to an end in the quarterfinal after losing to former world number one Serbia’s Novak Djokovic with a score of 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

During the same interview, Fritz spoke about the challenge of getting past players like Alcaraz and Sinner at major events. The 27-year-old was of the opinion that, looking at the current crop of players, not many will be able to compete with the dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner at the highest level, especially with Djokovic coming towards the end of his career. Fritz was of the opinion that he was working hard to be amongst the players who would put their hand up and compete against the very best in the near future.

“If you just go down the rankings, the next people [after Alcaraz and Sinner] are myself and Sasha,” said Fritz. “I see Novak’s there but we don't know how much longer Novak's going to really play over the next five years. If it's not going to be just Carlos and Sinner then yeah, there's only right now a handful of people that you might be able to contest. And I'm working really hard to be one of them.”

Fritz secured his spot in the semifinal of the Japan Open after beating fellow countryman Sebastian Korda with a score of 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. His next opponent will be another American player, Jenson Brooksby. The 24-year-old secured his spot in the last-four after beating Denmark’s Holger Rune in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-3. This will be the fourth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous three meetings, Fritz had a slight advantage as he won on two occasions.