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I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {