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I possess a few thoughts regarding that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning 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 magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {