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I have some thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is 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 American men 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 competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {