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I have some opinions about the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might 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 sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {