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I possess some opinions regarding the comments made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a contest, 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 seems unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {