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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended 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 match was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt 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 the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {