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I possess some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {