🔗 Share this article

I possess a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German 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 far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {