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I have a few thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable 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 sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {