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I possess a few opinions about the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American 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 achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {