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I possess some thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {