🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions about that comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. 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 against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest 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 drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {