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I possess a few opinions about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players 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 competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched 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, extending the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {