🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {