🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men 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 magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, 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 those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {