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I have a few opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. 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 elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz 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 insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {