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I have some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when he had exited 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 achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {