US Men's Major Title Drought Isn't Fritz's Burden to Carry

I have some opinions regarding the remarks made by ESPN commentator Chris Fowler after the Serbian champion's victory over the American player during the New York major quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents the United States, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to patriotic sentiment. A little bit of disappointment was understandable. Instead, he brought up the ongoing drought of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a trophy since the last American champion in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, phenomenal talent Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom Fritz has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the last seven grand slams (plus Alcaraz went on to defeat a tired Djokovic in the subsequent match). He stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the three best competitors in the sport back-to-back. Fritz is well within his right to aim for the accomplishment; an competitor is supposed to believe in themselves. But going into that Serbian quarter-final what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

Fritz, twenty-eight, is placed number four in the world entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over third-ranked Alexander Zverev 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. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and backhand are more than enough to dispose of most rivals on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, Fritz is often helpless. The past few seasons has witnessed the interesting rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the surprising speed and grace of smaller men. He is six-foot-five and looks it. His footwork is stiff, as if he hasn't fully adapted 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 acts as a pretty severe restriction on his upside.

Fritz has achieved a several dramatic, improbable advancements over the years. At the beginning of the ten-year period, he was circling the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly surged to fourth place – and held the spot. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of American men winning grand slams when he had departed the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply too much and the respect for the magnitude of the task too little.

Fritz’s play in that exact quarter-final should have been enough of an indication. The Serbian triumphed in four rounds, a victory that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when Fritz had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to maintain serve for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When he eventually did convert a single of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had lulled him into a battle peripheral to the real battle and compelled him to expend excessive energy to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his first serve floated to the sky. He prolonged the contest two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately committed two errors. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of second serves.

The contest was fairly compelling evidence that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any version of Djokovic, who was defeated by the Spaniard in the next round and never especially seem like he thought he could win. This is absolutely acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and may not be at the peak 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 problem is those who were anticipating Fritz to prevail, and putting pressure on him to do so, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a patient, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not only say his emotions or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America not produce a male major champion since Andy Roddick feels unfair. (Now that the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

“I’d probably dwell on it forever if I don’t accomplish it,” the American told an interviewer in the summer of winning a grand slam. It is hoped he realizes that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact highly unlikely for all other players. {