🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting 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 asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Swedish icon Division

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

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {