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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {