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I have a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {