🔗 Share this article

I possess a few opinions regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {