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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He 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 win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify 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. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {