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I have a few opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?

The American star's weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on each front side and backhand are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a few match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing match points in the final game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

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

Swedish icon Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {