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I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {