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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {