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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {