🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also divided the previous seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing between her and consistent victories

The American, twenty-eight, is ranked fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on both front side and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the handful of generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite severe limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of significant, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the task too little.

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

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the run to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to heaven. 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 an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never particularly appeared like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than almost anyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {