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I have some thoughts about that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five 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 controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {