🔗 Share this article

I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title 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 the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {