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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance 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 maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {