🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement 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 against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {