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I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was understandable. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain 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 creating 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 eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {