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I have a few thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players 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.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {