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I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {