🔗 Share this article

I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them has won a title since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a narrative, myself included. But come on. Suppose Fritz defeated Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an official match. And if he’d someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also divided the last seven major titles (plus Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in press following his defeat that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier standing in her way and sustained success

Fritz, 28, is ranked fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can rise: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of performance metrics away. His top-class serve and concussive strength on both front side and reverse side are sufficiently enough to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has seen the interesting emergence of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless move around with the alarming quickness and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and playing a drop shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a several dramatic, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. 24 months later, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth mentioning the ongoing slump of American men winning grand slams when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge insufficient.

The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July.

Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the rallies, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after service break opportunity, extending the run to the point of frustration. When he finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a terrible service game to lose his own serve again; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, I didn’t think, only a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, who lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly seem like he believed he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not done anything that indicated he could.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in media sessions, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a contest, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)

ATP Finals: Singles Groups

Jimmy Connors Division

• The Spanish phenom
• The American contender
• Alex de Minaur (Aus)
• Lorenzo Musetti (It)

Swedish icon Division

• The Italian champion
• The German powerhouse
• The rising American
• The Canadian talent

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {