🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived 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 (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth 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. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should 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 competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {