🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts about that remarks delivered by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over the American player in the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents the United States, the commentator is from the US – and sports often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued 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 love a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). Fritz said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

The American star's second serve the only thing between her and sustained success

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His elite serve and powerful power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is frequently helpless. The last several years has witnessed the interesting emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless move around with the alarming speed and fluidity of much shorter men. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot against him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty severe restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best advancement to the Wimbledon last four in July.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he immediately played a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much energy to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, just a result of having to hit too many second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating Fritz to win, 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 press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, prepared to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Player Divisions

Jimmy Connors Group

• The Spanish phenom
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {