🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, 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 beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {