🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions about that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming speed and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a number of significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest 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 continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to break. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely improbable for all other players. {