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I have some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 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). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins 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 opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed 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 exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat 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 fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {