🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian 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 beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve 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 ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, 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 thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final 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 Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {