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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five 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 dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities 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 peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {