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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might 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 elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements 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 sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points 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 saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {