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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {