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I have some thoughts about that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible 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. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {