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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He 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 win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation 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 bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American 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 earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• 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 winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {