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I have some thoughts regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

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

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American 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 world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, 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 expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {