🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {