🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching 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 the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer 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 breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {