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I have some opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {