🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

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 lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {