🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked 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 last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins 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 opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator 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 winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

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

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {