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I possess some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only 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 beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {