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I possess a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. 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 could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {