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I possess some opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {