🔗 Share this article

I possess some thoughts about the comments made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten Djokovic for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Serbian in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the chance to defeat the top three players in the world back-to-back. Fritz is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of US winners on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite delivery and powerful power on both forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat most rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. 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 against him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

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

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a victory that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the streak 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 again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to expend excessive effort to prevail. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, thoughtful voice in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {