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I possess some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round 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 anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

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 fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {