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I possess a few opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {