🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions regarding that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players 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 tournament.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived 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 previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, 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 numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

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

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely improbable for everybody else. {