🔗 Share this article American Men's Major Title Drought Is Not Fritz's Responsibility to Bear I possess a few opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them had lifted a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the final representative in the competition. We all love a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was waiting in the next round, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he somehow gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the last seven grand slams (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than within his right to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind? Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the only thing standing in her way and consistent victories The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 the German with increasing ease. It's likely he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that’s as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. His top-class serve and powerful strength on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to defeat the majority of rivals on the professional circuit. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter men. He is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside. Fritz has achieved a number of significant, improbable advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. 24 months later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly surged up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What was the commentator have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the ongoing slump of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the respect for the difficulty of the task too little. The American star made a personal best run to the Wimbledon last four in July. The American's performance in that very quarter-final should have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only seemed uncertain for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But the champion saved break point after break point, prolonging the streak to the point of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a terrible game to drop serve once more; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Facing match points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve floated to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a collapse, in my opinion, just a consequence of needing to hit too many second serves. The match was quite ironclad proof that the American is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of the Serbian, who was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is the individuals who were anticipating the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not done anything that indicated he would. Fritz is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in media sessions, exceeding virtually anyone on the men's tour except for Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not only express his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since the fellow American is competing alongside him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that burden.) Year-End Championships: Singles Groups Jimmy Connors Division The Spanish phenom Taylor Fritz (US) Alex de Minaur (Aus) Lorenzo Musetti (It) Bjorn Borg Division The Italian champion Alexander Zverev (Ger) The rising American Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can) “I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I fail to do it,” the American told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. It is hoped he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not achieve that goal, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's dominant, formidable empire is actually highly improbable for all other players. {