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I possess some opinions regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {