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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won 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 really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {