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I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued 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 love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three 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 Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. 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 aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz 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 express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {