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I have some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence 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 tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed 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 second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot 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. His elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender 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 departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should 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 survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {