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I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The past few years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {