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I have a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {