🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, 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 after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator 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 US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {