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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace 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 win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator 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 winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, 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, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {