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I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {