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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating 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 worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {