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I have a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {