🔗 Share this article

I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, 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, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {