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I have some thoughts regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to 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 US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share 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)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {