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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning 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 in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {