🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. 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 last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {