🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about that remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {