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I have some thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {