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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when he 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.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion 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 had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {