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I have a few opinions about the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. 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 lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler 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 US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {