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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {