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I possess some thoughts regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued 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 he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic 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 compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {