Did Taylor Fritz finally beat his nemesis, Novak Djokovic? Well, the 27-year-old still trails 11-0 against the Serb. But after Fritz beat fellow American Jenson Brooksby at the Japan Open in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) to advance to the final of the tournament, the outcome off the court will certainly boost his confidence before he faces World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the Japan Open final at Ariake Coliseum.

Fritz entered the Japan Open as the World No. 5, behind the likes of Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Djokovic. But the semi-final win over Brooksby has rewarded the American for his recent form, as Fritz has officially become the World No. 4 tennis player. With this, Fritz has also dethroned Djokovic from his 4th ranking.

According to the latest ATP rankings, Fritz can be seen ranked in fourth place with 4,995 live points to his name. With 4830 live points under his name, Novak has slipped down to the 5th position. Notably, after Djokovic defeated Fritz for the 11th time during the US Open 2025, he claimed the 4th ranking from last year’s finalist. But as fate would have it, just four weeks after losing his ranking to the 24x major champ, Taylor is back in the top 4. But his redemption after the US Open’s QF loss has not been a cakewalk.

Fritz entered almost every possible competition in 2025. Starting off the year with a third-round trip to the Australian Open, then making it to the Round of 16 and exiting both the Dallas Open and the Indian Wells Masters, and more appearances in the Miami Open, Madrid Open, Italian Open, and HSBC Championships before defeating Brooksby in the final of the Lexus Eastbourne Open in June.

In the following weeks, Taylor reached the semifinal at Wimbledon (lost to Carlos Alcaraz), the same stage at the National Bank Open (lost to Ben Shelton), and wrapped things up with the trip to the Big Apple in early September. And even though he did not win any major this year, Fritz has won more matches than any other player in men’s tennis since June this year. During the recently concluded Laver Cup, the 27-year-old also ended his 3-match losing streak against Alcaraz with a straight set win (6-3, 6-2) at Chase Center.

So, keeping his current form in mind, his latest ranking jump should not come as a surprise. And while he is currently riding on his red-hot form, the San Diego native could be standing on the edge of yet another career-altering match.

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Taylor Fritz could face a familiar foe in Tokyo

At this year’s British Slam, Carlos Alcaraz eliminated Fritz from the competition to advance to the final, where the former eventually lost to Jannik Sinner. But the Japan Open could quite possibly be the stage where the two cross paths yet again after their Laver Cup clash. Alcaraz has been in incredible form this year. He arrived in Tokyo as the reigning US Open champion and having avenged his previous loss against Sinner. The World No. 1 is currently battling it out against Norway’s Casper Ruud at the Japan Open, with the latter having one step ahead.

However, knowing Alcaraz, a win coming from behind shouldn’t be off the table at any point. If that happens, Alcaraz will meet the American with vengeance. Do you think Fritz will be able to get the better of the Spaniard once again and establish a bigger gap between himself and Novak Djokovic’s ATP ranking?