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I possess some opinions regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked 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 far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite delivery and concussive power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to defeat the majority of opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nevertheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and playing a soft shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded to No 4 – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

Taylor Fritz made a career-best advancement to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He prolonged the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any form of Djokovic, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Swedish icon Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• 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 claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {