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I possess a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten 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 official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {