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I possess a few thoughts about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest 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 worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major 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 personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {