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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued absence 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 competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes 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 seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt 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 duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {