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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. 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 powerful strength on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not 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 Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {