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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued 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 final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

The American's play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {