🔗 Share this article

I possess some thoughts regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured 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 it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {