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I possess some thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {