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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous 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 the American creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {