🔗 Share this article

I possess a few opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {