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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting 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 career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• 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 indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope 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 in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {