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I possess a few opinions regarding the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (plus the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting this week’s 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 future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five 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 opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, 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 winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say his emotions or the strategy he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is in fact highly improbable for everybody else. {