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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist 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 the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {