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

I possess some thoughts regarding the remarks delivered by the sports network commentator a well-known announcer after the Serbian champion's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is American, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions frequently lend themselves to nationalism. A little bit of letdown would have been appropriate. Rather, he invoked the continued absence of American men at the majors: not one of them had lifted a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and he had been the last one standing in the competition.

We all love a narrative, me too. But really. Even if Fritz defeated 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 gotten past that, it would have been defending champion the Italian, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the last 11 sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven major titles (and the Spaniard went on to defeat a tired 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 world back-to-back. Fritz is well justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is meant to believe in themselves. But going into that Djokovic last eight match what other person in their right mind had the lack of American champions on the brain?

The American, twenty-eight, is placed fourth in the global rankings entering the upcoming ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six matches over third-ranked the German with increasing ease. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the coming years. But evidently that right now, that is as high as he can rise: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of performance metrics away. His elite serve and powerful strength on each forehand and reverse side are more than enough to defeat most opponents on the ATP tour. Against the select few once-in-a-lifetime players, though, he is often overmatched. The last several years has seen the interesting rise of lanky, towering athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and grace of smaller players. Fritz is 6ft 5ins and looks it. His footwork is rigid, as if he’s still getting used to his legs. So he seldom win a rally that the other player was dictating, and playing a drop shot against him is typically a safe bet. That serves as a pretty severe limitation on his potential.

Fritz has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements over the years. At the beginning of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the top 30. 24 months after, he was approaching the elite ten. Last year, he unexpectedly surged to No 4 – and maintained the position. But the subsequent step, competing against and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Serbian, is the highest of all. What could the commentator thinking? That the American, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to defeat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the ongoing drought of US male players winning major titles when Fritz had departed the New York major in the quarter-finals? The thirst is just too much and the respect for the difficulty of the challenge too little.

The American's play in that exact last eight match ought to have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a win that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a couple championship opportunities and had a chance to hold for 5-5. The pair appeared well-balanced during the exchanges, with Fritz creating numerous opportunities to break. But Djokovic rescued service break opportunity after break point, extending the streak to the brink of agony. When he finally did convert one of the opportunities at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve again; Djokovic had drawn him into a battle peripheral to the main contest and forced him to use far too much effort to win it. Down set points in the last game, Fritz’s primary delivery floated to the sky. He extended the match two times on his backup delivery, but ultimately double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, just a consequence of having to hit an excessive number of weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to beat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never particularly appeared like he thought he could triumph. This is absolutely fine – the Serbian is the greatest of all time, and might not be at the height of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and tactical know-how to compensate for a significant portion of the drop-off. The problem is those who were expecting Fritz to prevail, and pressuring him to achieve that, when he was yet to accomplished anything that suggested he could.

The American is an asset to the tour regardless. He’s a patient, thoughtful presence in media sessions, exceeding almost everyone on the men's tour aside from Daniil Medvedev, prepared to not just say how he feels or the tactic he felt determined a match, but explain it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for the United States failing to spawn a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist feels unfair. (Now that Ben Shelton is competing alongside him in the rankings, maybe they can divide that burden.)

“I’d probably think about it forever if I fail to do it,” Fritz informed an interviewer in June of claiming a major. It is hoped he understands that he’s not a failure if he doesn’t fulfill that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable reign is actually highly improbable for all other players. {