🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions about that remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the New York major last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was waiting in the next round, who Fritz 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 previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning 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.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. 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 indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than almost anyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {