🔗 Share this article

I have some opinions regarding that comments made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler following Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose the American defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his draw, because it offered the chance to defeat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic quarter-final who else sensibly had the drought of US winners in mind?

Coco Gauff’s second serve the sole barrier between her and consistent victories

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings entering this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six encounters over third-ranked the German with growing comfort. It's likely he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is frequently helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller men. Fritz is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

Fritz has made a several significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing drought of American men winning major titles when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Taylor Fritz achieved a personal best run to the All England Club last four in July.

Fritz’s performance in that exact last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic won in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved break point after break point, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly played a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, only a consequence of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the peak of his athletic abilities anymore, but has developed sufficient experience and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was had not done anything that suggested he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

Year-End Championships: Player Divisions

American legend Division

• Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
• Taylor Fritz (US)
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Bjorn Borg Division

• Jannik Sinner (It)
• Alexander Zverev (Ger)
• Ben Shelton (US)
• The Canadian talent

“I would likely think about it forever if I fail to accomplish it,” the American informed an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is actually highly unlikely for everybody else. {