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I possess a few opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, 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. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men 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 too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just 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 form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• 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 think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {