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I possess a few opinions about that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, 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 worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {