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I possess some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, 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 versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {