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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {