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I possess some opinions regarding that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork 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 playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of 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 top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {