🔗 Share this article

I possess a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {