🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. 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 dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {