🔗 Share this article

I possess some opinions about the comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and powerful strength on both forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation 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 the summer.

The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a result of needing to hit too many second serves.

The contest was quite ironclad evidence that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

American legend Group

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

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for everybody else. {