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I possess a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. 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 several significant, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {