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

I have a few opinions about that comments delivered by ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler after Novak Djokovic's win over Taylor Fritz during the US Open last eight. Look – Fritz is the United States, the commentator is from the US – and athletic competitions often encourage nationalism. A little bit of letdown was appropriate. Rather, he brought up the ongoing drought of American men at the majors: none of them had lifted a title since the last American champion in 2003, and Fritz had been the last one standing in the tournament.

Everyone love a narrative, me too. But really. Suppose Fritz had beaten the legend for the first time, phenomenal talent the Spanish star was waiting in the following match, whom Fritz has never defeated in an competitive encounter. And if he’d someway gotten past that, it would have been title holder Jannik Sinner, versus him Fritz had dropped 10 of the previous eleven sets. The two young stars had also split the last seven grand slams (plus the Spaniard went on to thrash a fatigued Djokovic in the next round). Fritz stated in post-match interviews following his defeat that he in fact preferred his draw, because it offered the opportunity to defeat the top three players in the sport back-to-back. He is well within his right to aspire to the accomplishment; an athlete is meant to have faith in themselves. But going into that Djokovic quarter-final who else in their right mind had the lack of American champions in mind?

Fritz, 28, is ranked number four in the world starting this week’s year-end championships and has secured his previous six matches over third-ranked Alexander Zverev with growing comfort. Presumably he could take that spot for himself in the future. But it’s clear that at present, that is as high as he can climb: Sinner and Alcaraz lie a vast gap of ranking points away. Fritz’s top-class delivery and concussive strength on each forehand and backhand are more than adequate to dispose of the majority of rivals on the ATP tour. When facing the handful of once-in-a-lifetime players, however, he is often helpless. The last several seasons has witnessed the curious emergence of lanky, towering athletes who can nevertheless cover the court with the surprising quickness and grace of much shorter men. He is six-foot-five and appears that way. His movement is stiff, as if he’s still getting used to his limbs. So he’ll rarely win a rally that the opponent was dictating, and hitting a soft shot versus him is usually a reliable tactic. That serves as a quite harsh restriction on his upside.

The American has made a number of significant, improbable advancements over the years. Early on of the ten-year period, he was hovering around the bottom of the top 30. Two years later, he was sniffing the top 10. Last year, he unexpectedly exploded up to No 4 – and maintained the spot. But the subsequent step, mixing it up with and beating legendary figures like Alcaraz, Sinner, and even a declining Djokovic, is the toughest of all. What was the commentator 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 slump of US male players lifting major titles when he had exited the US Open in the quarter-finals? The thirst is simply excessive and the appreciation for the magnitude of the challenge insufficient.

Fritz’s performance in that exact quarter-final should have been sufficient of an sign. The Serbian won in four rounds, a victory that only felt uncertain for brief periods towards the very end, when Fritz had saved a few championship opportunities and had a opportunity to hold for 5-5. The duo appeared evenly matched during the exchanges, with the American creating numerous chances to win the opponent's serve. But Djokovic rescued break point after break point, extending the streak to the point of frustration. When he eventually did claim a single of the chances at 5-5 in the middle stanza, he promptly produced a horrendous game to lose his own serve once more; the Serbian had drawn him into a battle secondary to the main contest and forced him to use excessive effort to win it. Down set points in the final game, Fritz’s first serve sailed to the sky. He prolonged the match two times on his second serve, but finally double-faulted. It wasn’t a choke, in my opinion, only a result of needing to hit too many weaker deliveries.

The contest was quite ironclad proof that Fritz is insufficiently skilled to defeat any form of the Serbian, that lost to Alcaraz in the next round and never particularly seem like he believed he could triumph. This is perfectly acceptable – Djokovic is the greatest of all time, and may not be at the peak of his athletic abilities now, but has developed enough experience and strategic intelligence to compensate for a significant portion of the decline. The issue is those who were anticipating Fritz to win, and putting pressure on him to achieve that, when he was had not accomplished anything that suggested he would.

The American is an valuable contributor to the circuit regardless. He’s a calm, thoughtful voice in press conferences, more so than almost everyone on the ATP aside from the Russian star, prepared to not only express how he feels or the strategy he felt determined a contest, but clarify it. That he ought to bear the brunt of the blame for America failing to produce a men's grand slam winner since the last American titlist seems unjust. (Since Ben Shelton is rubbing shoulders with him in the standings, maybe they can share that load.)

“I would likely dwell on it indefinitely if I don’t accomplish it,” Fritz told a journalist in the summer of winning a grand slam. I hope he understands that he’s not a failure if he does not achieve that goal, that breaking through the Spanish and Italian's young, terrifying empire is actually extremely improbable for all other players. {