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I possess a few opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d 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 split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal 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 indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may 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 had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {