A hectic ATP Tour season is heading towards a thrilling conclusion, with next week’s Paris Masters and the end-of-season ATP Finals in Turin the final two big dates on the 2025 calendar for the top male players.

This is also the time of the year when lucrative exhibition events are crammed into the busy tennis calendar, with the Laver Cup and Six Kings Slam tournaments capturing plenty of headlines in recent weeks.

World No.4 Taylor Fritz took centre stage in both of those events and when he spoke to All Court Tennis Club, he insisted the tennis calendar needs to be loosened out and also hit back at claims his comments were hypocritical when he is playing exhibition events and collecting big appearance fees when he has a week away from the regular tour.

Fritz also looked back over his year and reflected on the dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at the top of men’s tennis.

How do you respond to criticism of players who play exhibition events and then complain about the crowded tennis calendar?

These events are great for tennis. In the Six Kings Slam and the Laver Cup, you have the best players in the world playing against each other, which is what people want to see. The difficulty is the calendar is already really packed. These events are very enjoyable to do and when the schedule allows it, then it’s great to be part of them. Also, we had the Six Kings Slam live on Netflix, so hopefully we are reaching out to a different audience as well as the regular tennis fans.

Do you feel extending most of the Masters 1000 tournaments to 12 days has made the year tougher?

The calendar is too crowded and it’s not just me who says that. Ask all the players and they will say the same. We would all like to have more weeks off and not just to fill them with exhibitions, none of us are looking to do that. We just want to have time to live our lives outside of tennis and rest our bodies a little.

How would you reflect on your year?

It’s been a great end to the year, but not so great in the first half. When I look back to where I was halfway through the season to where I am now, I’m happy with the way I’m playing over the last few months. Now it would be great to finish the season on a high.

You beat Carlos Alcaraz at the Laver Cup and pushed him close in the Tokyo final a week later. Do you feel you are getting closer to both Carlos and Jannik Sinner?

I feel like I have made some steps forward, for sure. I always say that when you achieve something once in life, it’s always easier to do it again. There’s no doubt that Alcaraz and Sinner are incredible players, but it is up to the rest of us to try and match them and I feel like I’m getting closer. When I played Alcaraz at the Laver Cup last year, it just felt like I had no chance. This time I won and then it was also pretty close in Tokyo, so that’s encouraging. These two guys are incredible players and they encourage me to push myself and improve.

Do you feel like you could win your first Grand Slam in 2026?

The Grand Slam can come at any time for me. It’s just about things aligning for those two weeks. The level is there for me when I play my best tennis. It just needs to fall into place over two weeks.

Your partner Morgan is very prominent on Instagram. Do you feel she is bringing tennis to a new audience?

Yeah, I think she has brought a different audience to the sport and that’s great to see. When I was growing up, the sports stars I admired or paid attention to were the ones I enjoyed watching on the court or on the field, and also because I connected with their story and the stories of those around them. Tennis can do a better job in telling those stories and hopefully Morgan is reaching out to a different audience.

Taylor Fritz was speaking at the Six Kings Slam, part of Riyadh Season.