🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {