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I possess some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator 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 continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {