🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded 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 chance to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. He is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier 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 No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {