US Men's Grand Slam Drought Is Not Fritz's Burden to Carry

I possess some opinions about that comments made by the sports network broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over the American player during the New York major last eight. Consider – Fritz is the United States, Fowler is American – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. Some disappointment would have been appropriate. Rather, Fowler brought up the continued absence of US male players at the majors: none of them has won a title since Andy Roddick in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the competition.

Everyone 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 waiting in the next round, who he has yet to beat in an official match. And had he someway gotten past that, it would have been defending champion Jannik Sinner, versus him the American had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. Alcaraz and Sinner had also divided the previous seven major titles (and the Spaniard proceeded to thrash a fatigued Serbian in the next round). He said in press following his defeat that he actually liked his path, because it offered the opportunity to beat the three best competitors in the sport in succession. He is more than justified to aspire to the achievement; an competitor is supposed to have faith in themselves. But entering that Serbian last eight match who else sensibly had the lack of US winners in mind?

Fritz, 28, is placed number four in the global rankings starting this week’s ATP World Tour Finals and has won his previous six encounters over No 3 the German with growing comfort. Presumably he might take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that’s as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz sit a chasm of performance metrics away. Fritz’s elite serve and concussive power on both front side and reverse side are more than adequate to dispose of most rivals on the professional circuit. When facing the select few generational talents, however, Fritz is frequently overmatched. The past few years has witnessed the curious rise of tall, gangly athletes who can nonetheless cover the court with the alarming speed and fluidity of smaller players. He is 6ft 5ins and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he seldom win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a drop shot against him is usually a safe bet. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his potential.

The American has achieved a number of dramatic, unexpected improvements throughout his career. Early on of the decade, he was hovering around the lower end of the world's best thirty. Two years after, he was sniffing the top 10. The previous season, he suddenly exploded to fourth place – and maintained the spot. But the next leap, mixing it up with and defeating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and including a aging Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What could Fowler have been thinking? That Fritz, in 2025, was a legitimate contender to beat them all back-to-back? That it was appropriate mentioning the continuing drought of American men lifting major titles when he had exited the New York major in the quarter-finals? The desperation is just too much and the respect for the magnitude of the challenge too little.

The American's play in that exact quarter-final ought to have been enough of an sign. The Serbian triumphed in four sets, a win that only felt tenuous for brief periods towards the very end, when the American had survived a few championship opportunities and had a chance to maintain serve for 5-5. The pair appeared evenly matched during the rallies, with the American creating plenty of opportunities to break. But Djokovic saved service break opportunity after service break opportunity, extending the run to the brink of agony. When Fritz eventually did convert one of the chances at 5-5 in the second set, he immediately produced a horrendous service game to drop serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to expend far too much effort to win it. Facing set points in the last game, his primary delivery sailed to heaven. He extended the contest twice on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It was not a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was fairly compelling proof that the American is not good enough to beat any version of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the following match and never especially seem like he thought he could triumph. This is perfectly fine – the Serbian is the best player ever, and might not be at the peak of his physical powers anymore, but has acquired enough knowledge and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is the individuals who were expecting Fritz to win, and pressuring him to do so, when he was yet to accomplished anything that indicated he would.

Fritz is an valuable contributor to the circuit nonetheless. He’s a calm, reflective presence in press conferences, more so than virtually everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, willing to not just express how he feels or the strategy he felt decided a match, but explain it. That he should bear the brunt of the blame for the United States not spawn a male major champion since the last American titlist seems unfair. (Since the fellow American is rubbing shoulders with him in the rankings, perhaps they can divide that load.)

“I’d probably think about it indefinitely if I don’t do it,” Fritz told a journalist in June of claiming a grand slam. I hope he realizes that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that objective, that overcoming Alcaraz and Sinner’s dominant, formidable empire is in fact extremely unlikely for all other players. {