Coco Gauff’s Former Coach Makes His Position Known on Taylor Fritz Ahead of His Run at ATP Finals
Coco Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, recently shared his thoughts on Taylor Fritz ahead of his campaign at the 2025 ATP Finals. The former World No. 4 made his debut at the season-ending tournament in 2022.
Fritz has competed at the ATP Finals in 2022 and 2024, and will now participate in 2025. In 2023, he was the second alternate but did not play in the tournament.
Brad Gilbert Speaks on Taylor Fritz’s Form Ahead of His Run at ATP Finals 2025
The 2025 ATP Finals began on November 9, 2025, and will run until November 16, 2025. The matches are taking place on the indoor hard courts at the Inalpi Arena in Turin. Along with Fritz, players who have qualified for the event include Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, and Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Ahead of Fritz’s first match at the ATP Finals, Gilbert discussed Fritz’s performances and current form on ‘Gill Gross Shorts.’ He expressed that the former World No. 4 has surprised him with his consistent performance, maintaining a position near the top five in the world rankings.
Gilbert compared Fritz’s consistency to players like Nikolay Davydenko, David Ferrer, and Tomáš Berdych.
“The tier that Alcaraz and Sinner are on, they’re on their own island. Then, you know, Djoker, who plays a limited schedule, the next one is Fritz and Shelton. Fritz has surprised me, like this is his third consecutive year that he is where he is. Man, the guy is top five almost now, three straight years. He’s kind of starting to get into the (Nikolay) Davydenko, (David) Ferrer level, (Tomáš) Berdych level, where, like, he’s consistently kind of being there,” Fritz said.
Gilbert mentioned Fritz has “willed himself” to become a “great player,” and his results support this claim.
“He’s willed himself into being a great player. The results don’t lie. A very easy thing to say about tennis, the best availability is availability. And there are a lot of guys who maybe have that capability but haven’t been able to stay healthy. That guy has been able to punch in the time clock, and he’s been able to make results,” he added.
This year, Fritz has secured two titles, winning the 2025 BOSS Open and the Eastbourne Open, where he defeated Zverev and Jenson Brooksby in the finals, respectively. He also had semifinal runs at the Miami Open, Wimbledon Championships, and Canadian Open, and reached the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Open, Geneva Open, Citi DC Open, and US Open.
Who Will Fritz Face in the First Group Stage Match at the 2025 ATP Finals?
Fritz will kick off his campaign at the 2025 ATP Finals by facing Lorenzo Musetti in the first match of the group stage. This year marks the Italian’s debut at the season-ending tournament.
Fritz and Musetti have faced each other five times on the ATP Tour, with the World No. 9 winning three of those encounters. Their most recent match was in the third round of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Musetti emerged victorious with a score of 6-4, 7-5. He then went on to secure the bronze medal at the tournament by defeating Félix Auger-Aliassime.
In the lead-up to the 2025 ATP Finals, Musetti participated in the 2025 Hellenic Championship. He was seeded second and began his campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye. In his opening match, he defeated wild card Stan Wawrinka with a scoreline of 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4.
In the quarterfinals, the World No. 9 triumphed over fifth seed Alexandre Müller, winning 6-2, 6-4. He then secured his place in the final by eliminating Sebastian Korda, finishing with a score of 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 in the semifinals. In the championship match, he faced top seed Novak Djokovic and finished as the runner-up after losing 6-4, 3-6, 5-7.
Following his victory at the 2025 Hellenic Championship, Djokovic qualified for the 2025 ATP Finals but withdrew before the tournament began due to a shoulder injury, allowing Musetti to take his place.
