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I possess some thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Consider – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world in succession. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of much shorter 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 seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American star made a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in July.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in media sessions, more so than almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only express his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {