The best way to win in a free market is to stop the market from being free (form a monopoly, influence the governmrnt, etc) ... Surely every good capitalist knows that.
From the perspective of a monopolized, unregulated etc. market, it is free of
competition, free from regulation, etc.
off-topic: what's the preposition to use with free?
These two kinds of freedom are the very two you're asking about. The free market is the ultimate "freedom to" - freedom to compete, freedom to sell at the prices you want, freedom to buy anything you can afford.
Proponents of regulated markets point out that there are important "freedom from"s not covered by a free market: freedom from inequality and injustice, freedom from rent-seeking and predatory pricing, freedom from unsafe products and environmental damage.
Of course, for many things the distinction is arbitrary. What is the "freedom to" compete but the "freedom from" monopolies? How is the "freedom from" unsafe products different from the "freedom to" buy products without being harmed?
As you point out, perhaps it's just a matter of perspective.
Freedom from inequality comes from freedom to buy and sell goods and labor without* restrictions or borders, inequality is near all time highs because of crony capitalism and corrupt governments.
Edited for clarity
It is harder and harder to economically squat because competition is now seamlessly global for basically everything except infrastructure. Only in a few very limited circumstances is rent seeking even a viable option today - namely those providers with natural monopolies like water/cable etc...
Across all industries, no one is safe from small disruptive providers. Wasn't even close to that case even a few decades ago.
It is ironic that the "free market" eventually leads to such an outcome.