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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued 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 last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {