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I possess some opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, 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 mentioning the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {