🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {