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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements over the years. 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 to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, 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 creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped 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 actually highly improbable for all other players. {