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I possess a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {