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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, 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 soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {