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I have some thoughts regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting 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 Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith 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 second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {