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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {