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I have some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews 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 aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best run to the All England Club 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 brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {