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I possess a few thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {