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I possess a few thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify 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 unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {