American Male Major Title Dry Spell Isn't Fritz's Responsibility to Bear

I possess a few opinions regarding that remarks made by ESPN broadcaster a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz during the US Open quarter-finals. Consider – the athlete represents American, the commentator is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some letdown would have been understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing absence of US male players at the majors: none of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

We all enjoy a narrative, myself included. But really. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and Alcaraz proceeded to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He said in press following his defeat that he actually preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the world back-to-back. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the drought of American champions on the brain?

The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world entering the upcoming year-end championships and has won his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. It's likely he could claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and concussive power on each front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless move around with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a pretty harsh restriction on his potential.

Fritz has made a several dramatic, unexpected advancements throughout his career. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, Sinner, and including a declining Serbian, is the highest of all. What was Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting grand slams when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the appreciation for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match should have been sufficient of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a victory that only seemed uncertain for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz earning plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, prolonging the run to the point of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately played a terrible game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The match was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is not good enough to defeat any form of Djokovic, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – Djokovic is the best player ever, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, willing to not only express how he feels or the strategy he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America failing to produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

“I would likely think about it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in the summer of winning a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly unlikely for all other players. {