Taylor Fritz paid tribute to Novak Djokovic following their Six Kings Slam match as the 27-year-old said it was both "amazing and crazy" to grow up watching someone and then have a chance to play against them so many times.
After Fritz lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Six Kings Slam semifinal and Djokovic got bounced by Jannik Sinner, the American and the Serb stayed in Riyadh because they still had to play their third-place match. And it was quite a slugfest early on as nothing was separating the two before the world No. 4 won the first set 7-6 (4) after one hour and 16 minutes of grueling play.
To everyone's disappointment, the match ended there because the 38-year-old couldn't continue anymore.
Fritz to Djokovic: I grew up watching him dominate, now I get to play against him
"It's amazing. It's crazy, all these guys that I grew up watching dominate tennis, and I get to play with them. It's not like this is anything new; Novak's been beating me for a very long time, probably at least the last eight years. It's always a pleasure to share the court with the best players of all time," the 27-year-old American said following their Riyadh match.
Fritz clashed against Djokovic for the first time in 2019 April when the Serb routed him at the Monte Carlo Masters. Since then, they have squared off 10 more times on the ATP Tour, and the record 24-time Grand Slam champion owns a perfect 11-0 head-to-head against the American.
Since the Six Kings Slam is an exhibition tournament, Fritz's triumph over the former world No. 1 in Riyadh isn't counted as an official win.
Fritz's win over Djokovic in Six Kings Slam doesn't count on the official head-to-head
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