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I have some thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {