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I possess some thoughts regarding that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The last several years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could 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 major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {