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I have a few thoughts about that comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked 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 final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. 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 dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {