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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {