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I possess a few opinions regarding the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {