US Male Major Title Drought Isn't Fritz's Burden to Carry
I have some opinions about that comments delivered by the sports network broadcaster a well-known announcer following the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals. Look – the athlete represents American, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions frequently encourage patriotic sentiment. Some letdown was appropriate. Rather, he invoked the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: not one of them has won a trophy since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.
Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Suppose the American had beaten Djokovic for the initial occasion, force of nature the Spanish star was looming in the following match, whom he has yet to beat in an competitive encounter. And had he someway survived that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him the American had lost 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the previous seven major titles (and Alcaraz proceeded to defeat a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in press after the loss that he actually liked his path, because it presented the opportunity to beat the three best players in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Serbian last eight match who else in their right mind had the drought of American champions in mind?
Coco Gauff’s weaker delivery the sole barrier between her and sustained success
The American, 28, is ranked fourth in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his last six matches over No 3 Alexander Zverev with increasing ease. Presumably he could claim that position for himself in the future. But evidently that right now, that’s as far as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a chasm of ranking points away. Fritz’s elite serve and powerful power on both forehand and backhand are sufficiently enough to defeat most opponents on the professional circuit. When facing the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often overmatched. The last several seasons has seen the curious rise of tall, gangly players who can nonetheless move around with the surprising speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His movement is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely steal a point that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is typically a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh limitation on his potential.
The American has achieved a several significant, improbable improvements over the years. Early on of the decade, he was circling the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating all-time-greats like Alcaraz, the Italian, and including a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was worth commenting on the continuing slump of US male players lifting grand slams when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task too little.
The American star made a career-best advancement to the All England Club semi-finals in the summer.
Fritz’s performance in that very last eight match ought to have been enough of an indication. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only seemed tenuous for brief periods towards the conclusion, when the American had saved a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair looked evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to break. But the champion rescued service break opportunity after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of frustration. When Fritz finally did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly played a horrendous service game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a skirmish secondary to the main contest and compelled him to use far too much energy to prevail. Down match points in the last game, his first serve sailed to the sky. He extended the contest twice on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It wasn’t a collapse, in my opinion, just a result of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.
The contest was fairly ironclad evidence that the American is not good enough to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers now, but has developed sufficient experience and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The issue is the individuals who were expecting the American to win, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that indicated he could.
Fritz is an asset to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, reflective voice in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the men's tour except for the Russian star, willing to not just express his emotions or the tactic he felt decided a match, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the responsibility for the United States not spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Since Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the standings, perhaps they can share that load.)
Year-End Championships: Singles Groups
Jimmy Connors Group
- Carlos Alcaraz (Sp)
- Taylor Fritz (US)
- Alex de Minaur (Aus)
- Lorenzo Musetti (It)
Bjorn Borg Group
- Jannik Sinner (It)
- Alexander Zverev (Ger)
- Ben Shelton (US)
- Félix Auger-Aliassime (Can)
“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed a journalist in June of winning a major. I hope he understands that he’s not unsuccessful if he doesn’t achieve that objective, that breaking through Alcaraz and Sinner’s young, terrifying empire is in fact highly improbable for all other players. {
