🔗 Share this article

I have a few opinions about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy 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 had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class serve and concussive power on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the handful of generational talents, though, he is frequently overmatched. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of smaller men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible service game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The match was quite compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and never especially appeared like he believed he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding virtually everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {