🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved 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 approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• 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 dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {