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I possess a few thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements 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 approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge 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 yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {