🔗 Share this article

I possess a few thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed 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’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When he finally did convert 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; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {