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I have a few thoughts about that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: 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.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {