🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts regarding the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest 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 slump of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not 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 height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {