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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: 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.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived 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 divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating 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 Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz 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 lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {