🔗 Share this article

I have some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown was understandable. Rather, he invoked the continued drought of American men at the majors: not one of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the initial occasion, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz 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 thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to defeat the three best players in the world back-to-back. He is well justified to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering this week’s year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. Two years after, he was approaching the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

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

The American's play in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to win it. Facing set points in the final game, his first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

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

Bjorn Borg Group

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• Ben Shelton (US)
• Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {