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I have a few opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, 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 survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far 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 sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {