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I have some opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest 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 commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {