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I have some opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator 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 lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’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 moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. 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 developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {