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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued 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 defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 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. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly 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 footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months 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 defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {