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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway 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 divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter 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 playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, 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 exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {