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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {