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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat 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 chance to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {