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I have some opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived 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 divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, 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 drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {