🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about the remarks delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was understandable. Rather, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, myself included. But really. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, twenty-eight, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and concussive strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace 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 playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz achieved a career-best run to the All England Club last four in the summer.

Fritz’s play in that very quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It was not a collapse, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he believed determined a contest, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

American legend Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {