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I possess a few thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: 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 enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {