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I have a few thoughts about that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners in mind?

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

Fritz, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is often helpless. The past few years has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness 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 legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has made a several significant, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing drought of US male players winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

The American star achieved a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a terrible game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and compelled him to use excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {