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I have a few opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he 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 he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {