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I have some opinions regarding that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five 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 playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {