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I have some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited 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 achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {