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I have some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, 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 reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, 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 fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {