🔗 Share this article US Male Grand Slam Dry Spell Isn't Fritz's Responsibility to Bear I possess a few opinions regarding the comments delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently encourage nationalism. A little bit of disappointment was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: not one of them had lifted a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the tournament. Everyone enjoy a storyline, myself included. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, who Fritz has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain? The American star's second serve the sole barrier between her and sustained success The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that at present, that is as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard sit a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. Against the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several years has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot against him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential. Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. 24 months after, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little. The American star achieved a personal best run to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer. The American's play in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian won in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had saved a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion rescued break point after service break opportunity, 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 immediately played a terrible game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to expend excessive effort to win it. Down match points in the final game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many second serves. The match was fairly ironclad evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired sufficient 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 win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could. The American is an valuable contributor to the tour regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding virtually anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a contest, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can share that burden.) ATP Finals: Player Divisions Jimmy Connors Group Carlos Alcaraz (Sp) Taylor Fritz (US) The Australian speedster The Italian stylist Bjorn Borg Division Jannik Sinner (It) The German powerhouse The rising American The Canadian talent “I would likely think about it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually extremely improbable for everybody else. {