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I possess some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love 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 official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim 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 compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {