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I possess some thoughts about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position 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 performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {