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I have some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none 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 really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• 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 think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {