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I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships 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 future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {