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I have some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

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

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {