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I possess a few thoughts about that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic'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 sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final 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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive power on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {