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I have a few thoughts about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against 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 players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {