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I have a few opinions about that comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing 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 enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest 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 mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

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 do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {