🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning 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 challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {