🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for all other players. {