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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian 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 sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {