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I have some opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat 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 last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim 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; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, 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 the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {