🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions about that remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {