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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler 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 departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {