🔗 Share this article

I possess some thoughts regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (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 liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 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 might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging 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 promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {