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I possess some opinions about the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: 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.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how 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 yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {