🔗 Share this article

I possess a few opinions about the remarks made by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player in the New York major last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz defeated the legend 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 somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz said in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is more than justified to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his last six matches over No 3 the German with growing comfort. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that’s as high as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class delivery and powerful strength on both forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless move around with the surprising speed and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the continuing drought of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When he finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the match twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he thought he could win. This is perfectly fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has acquired enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Group

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely unlikely for everybody else. {