🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts regarding that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: 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.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on 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 defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, unexpected advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the contest two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided 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 the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer 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 improbable for all other players. {