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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic 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 a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {