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I have a few opinions about the comments made by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is from the US – and sports often lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, he brought up the continued drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the next round, who Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (plus the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired Serbian in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport in succession. Fritz is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an athlete is supposed to believe in themselves. But entering that Serbian quarter-final who else sensibly had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American star's weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and consistent victories

The American, 28, is ranked number four in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful power on each front side and reverse side are more than enough to dispose of the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the spot. But the next leap, competing against and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, 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 continuing drought of American men lifting grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in July.

The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. Djokovic won in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he finally did claim a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible service game to drop serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to the Spaniard in the next round and did not especially appeared like he thought he could win. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his athletic abilities now, but has acquired sufficient knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he believed determined a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for the United States failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

American legend Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• The Australian speedster
• The Italian stylist

Bjorn Borg Division

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

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” the American informed a journalist in the summer of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {