🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements 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 sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {