🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might 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 sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even 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 mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {