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I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; 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 lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {