🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: 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 narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, 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 lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {