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I have some opinions about the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, however, he is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice 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 too many second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {