🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts about the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open last eight. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been appropriate. Instead, he invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at grand slam tournaments: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone enjoy a narrative, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the next round, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the next round). Fritz said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the top three players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several dramatic, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a career-best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in the summer.

The American's performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the exchanges, with the American earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to prevail. Down match points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the match twice on his backup delivery, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to the Spaniard in the following match and did not particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that indicated he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {