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I have a few opinions about that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, 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 position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {