🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller 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 hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating 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 regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems 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

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {