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I have a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than 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 drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position 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. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest 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 worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {