🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major 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 All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• 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 winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {