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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {