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I possess a few opinions regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature 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 title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. 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 approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {