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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler 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 US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {