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I have some opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot 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. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple 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 opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

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

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {