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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And if he’d somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. 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 unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a career-best run to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the point of agony. When he eventually did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers 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 Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped 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 actually extremely improbable for all other players. {