US Men's Grand Slam Drought Isn't Fritz's Responsibility to Bear

I have some opinions regarding that remarks delivered by the sports network commentator Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's victory over the American player during the US Open quarter-finals. Look – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some disappointment would have been understandable. Instead, Fowler invoked the continued drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all enjoy a narrative, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten the legend for the first time, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, against whom Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven major titles (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Djokovic in the next round). He stated in press after the loss that he in fact liked his draw, because it presented the opportunity to beat the top three competitors in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six encounters over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. It's likely he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that right now, that’s as far as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a chasm of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are sufficiently adequate to defeat most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, though, Fritz is frequently helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the curious rise of lanky, towering players who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of much shorter players. Fritz is six-foot-five and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he hasn't fully adapted to his legs. So he seldom steal a point that the opponent was controlling, and hitting a drop shot versus him is typically a safe bet. That acts as a pretty harsh limitation on his upside.

The American has achieved a several significant, unexpected advancements throughout his career. At the beginning of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the elite ten. The previous season, he suddenly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and defeating all-time-greats like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and including a declining Serbian, 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 appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men lifting major titles when Fritz had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the rallies, with Fritz earning numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the run to the point of agony. When Fritz finally did claim one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, I didn’t think, just a consequence of having to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any version of Djokovic, that was defeated by the Spaniard in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to make up for quite a bit of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to done anything that suggested he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the tour nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective presence in media sessions, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP except for Daniil Medvedev, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he believed decided a match, but clarify it. That he should bear the brunt of the responsibility for the United States not produce a men's grand slam winner since Andy Roddick feels unjust. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I fail to accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of claiming a major. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually highly improbable for everybody else. {