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I possess some thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {