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I have a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the curious rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest 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 continuing slump of US male players winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon 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 victory that only felt uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor 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, willing to not only express his emotions or the strategy he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend 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)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {