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I have a few opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {