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I have some thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {