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I possess a few thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, 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 power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. 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 actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {