🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about the remarks made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

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

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, willing to not just say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {