🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on 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 just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a contest, 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 Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {