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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence 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 enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {