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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity 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 steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest 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 worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {