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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, 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 Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {