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I possess a few thoughts regarding that remarks made by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the chance to beat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed 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?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. 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 opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could win. 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 developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {