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I have a few opinions about the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: 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, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {