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I have a few opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, 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 worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {