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I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men 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 tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {