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I have some thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived 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 plenty of chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {