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I have a few thoughts regarding that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining 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 worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share 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)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {