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I have a few opinions about the comments made by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he actually liked his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is 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 backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {