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I have some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {