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I have some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement 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 severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought 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 now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {