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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He 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 last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {