🔗 Share this article

I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {