US Men's Major Title Dry Spell Is Not Fritz's Responsibility to Bear

I have a few thoughts about that remarks made by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's victory over Taylor Fritz in the New York major quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is American, the commentator is American – and sports often encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the continued absence of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the final representative in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was looming in the following match, who he has never defeated in an official match. And if he’d somehow gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). Fritz said in post-match interviews after the loss that he in fact preferred his path, because it presented the chance to beat the three best competitors in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the drought of US winners on the brain?

The American, 28, is placed number four in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that at present, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful power on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the other player was controlling, and playing a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has made a number of dramatic, improbable improvements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years later, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he suddenly exploded to No 4 – and held the position. But the next leap, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a aging Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That the American, 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 major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just excessive and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

Fritz’s play in that very last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. Djokovic triumphed in four rounds, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the conclusion, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a terrible service game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had lulled him into a skirmish secondary to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to prevail. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, only a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The match was quite ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and did not especially seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough experience and tactical know-how to make up for quite a bit of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, exceeding almost anyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not just say how he feels or the tactic he believed determined a match, but clarify it. That he ought to shoulder the majority of the responsibility for America not spawn a male major champion since Andy Roddick seems unjust. (Now that Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, perhaps they can share that burden.)

“I would likely dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {