US Male Major Title Dry Spell Isn't Taylor Fritz's Responsibility to Carry

I have a few thoughts about the comments delivered by ESPN commentator a well-known announcer following Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Consider – the athlete represents American, Fowler is American – and sports frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Instead, Fowler brought up the ongoing drought of American men at grand slam tournaments: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone love a storyline, me too. But come on. Even if Fritz defeated the legend for the first time, force of nature Carlos Alcaraz was looming in the following match, whom he has never defeated in an official match. And had he somehow survived that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also split the previous seven grand slams (and Alcaraz went on to thrash a tired Serbian in the next round). He said in post-match interviews after the loss that he actually preferred his draw, because it presented the chance to beat the three best players in the world in succession. He is well within his right to aim for the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Djokovic last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of American champions in mind?

The American, 28, is placed fourth in the world starting the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has secured his last six encounters over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might claim that position for himself in the coming years. But it’s clear that right now, that is as high as he can climb: The Italian and Spaniard lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite delivery and powerful power on both front side and backhand are more than adequate to defeat the majority of opponents on the professional circuit. Against the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is often helpless. The last several seasons has seen the curious emergence of tall, gangly players who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and fluidity of smaller players. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom steal a point that the other player was controlling, and playing a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That acts as a quite severe limitation on his potential.

The American has made a number of significant, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was circling the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was approaching the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to fourth place – and maintained the position. But the next leap, competing against and beating legendary figures like the young Spaniard, the Italian, and even a declining Djokovic, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a serious threat to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate commenting on the ongoing drought of US male players winning grand slams when Fritz had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the appreciation for the magnitude of the task insufficient.

The American's performance in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an indication. Djokovic triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for moments towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple match points and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after service break opportunity, prolonging the run to the brink of agony. When he eventually did convert a single of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to drop serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle secondary to the real battle and forced him to use excessive effort to prevail. Facing set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to heaven. He extended the match two times on his second serve, but finally committed two errors. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, just a result of needing to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The match was fairly compelling proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that was defeated by Alcaraz in the next round and did not especially appeared like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The problem is the individuals who were expecting the American to prevail, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an asset to the tour nonetheless. He’s a calm, thoughtful presence in press conferences, exceeding almost everyone on the ATP except for the Russian star, prepared to not just express how he feels or the tactic he felt decided a contest, but clarify it. That he should shoulder the majority of the blame for America failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Now that the fellow American is competing alongside him in the standings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not unsuccessful if he does not fulfill that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying reign is in fact extremely unlikely for everybody else. {