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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him 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 thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic 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 placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, 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 grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {