🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships 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 is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. 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 playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {