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I possess some opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, 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 last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last 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 it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz 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 opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {