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I have some opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press 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. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed 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 limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {